Gov. Kathy Hochul’s job approval and favorability rating improved slightly while still struggling with an electorate concerned about affordability and crime as she lays the groundwork for another campaign less than two years away, according to a Siena College poll of registered New York voters released Tuesday.

The governor has a negative 39-49% favorability rating, up from 36-51% in October, and a job approval rating of 46-49%, up from 41-51%, the poll found. She has not held a positive favorability rating since January and has never had a favorability rating 50% or higher in her whole tenure.

Only about a third of respondents said they would reelect Hochul in 2026 while a slight majority – 57% – want someone else.

“And as we now enter the 2026 gubernatorial election cycle, Hochul starts with less than an enthusiastic welcome from the voters. Only one third of voters – including only 48% of Democrats – say they’re prepared to re-elect Hochul, while 57% of voters – 40% of Democrats – say they want ‘someone else,’” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement. “Not surprisingly, 85% of Republicans want someone else, but so do 65% of independents.”

The poll found voters still prefer a Democrat over a Republican to be the next governor, 52-34%, with 85% of Democrats saying a Democrat, 85% of Republicans saying a Republican and independents saying a Republican 39-29%.

With state lawmakers heading back to Albany for a new legislative session in a few weeks, 43% of voters said cost of living should be the top priority this year, followed by 19% for affordable housing and the migrant influx each, and 15% for crime.

“Elected officials might want to listen when more than two-thirds of voters – including 77% of Democrats, 72% of independents and 60% of Republicans – tell them that the cost of living is one of their top two priorities for the coming legislative session,” Greenberg said. “And 43% said it was the top priority. Nearly half of voters said the availability of affordable housing should be one of the top two issues.”

Voters are also pessimistic on progress the state has made on those issues, with 54% of voters saying that crime and the migrant influx have gotten worse in New York over the last year, and 76% saying cost of living has gotten worse.

A majority of voters, 51-29%, oppose Hochul’s reinstituted $9 congestion pricing plan in Manhattan, including 56% of New York City voters and 60% of suburban voters in the downstate area, according to the poll.

“There is essentially no group of New Yorkers that support the Governor’s reinstituted $9 congestion pricing plan for Manhattan,” Greenberg said. “Democrats come close to break even, with opponents edging out supporters 42-40%. It’s opposed by City voters nearly two-to-one and downstate suburbanites better than two-to-one. There is very little racial or gender divide on congestion pricing.”

In relation to energy, New Yorkers are more divided on building new nuclear power plants in the state, with 43% opposing and 42% supporting.

“When it comes to New York’s energy policy – issues such as fracking, carbon emissions, offshore wind – a plurality of voters would trust the Hochul administration over the Trump administration, 49-38%,” Greenberg said. “Here, we do see the expected partisan divide, with 83% of Republicans trusting Trump and 73% of Democrats trusting Hochul. Independents split down the middle, 40-40%.”

When it comes to the incoming presidential administration, President-elect Donald Trump has a negative 37-59% favorability rating, and by a 50-39% margin, voters say the second Trump presidency will be bad for New York. In comparison, in December 2016, New Yorkers thought a Trump presidency would be good for New York by a narrow 47-45%.

“When Trump took office in January 2017, his favorability rating, 37-55%, was not very different from today. Currently, he’s viewed favorably by 85% of Republicans, and unfavorably by 83% of Democrats and 53% of independents,” Greenberg said. “Not surprisingly 83% of Republicans think Trump’s second presidency will be good for New York, while 73% of Democrats say bad. Independents ever so barely tilt toward good, 43-42%.”

A majority of voters, 54-35%, say the state should support and not oppose any Trump administration efforts to deport migrants living illegally in the state.

Coming to the end of his term, President Joe Biden has a negative 44-52% favorability rating and 47-52% job approval rating.

The Siena College poll was conducted Dec. 2-5 among 834 New York state registered voters. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points.