New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has expanded her lead over Rep. Lee Zeldin as the candidates enter the final six weeks of their campaign for governor, according to a new poll released today.
The Siena College poll of likely voters found Hochul, a Democrat from Erie County, has a 17-point lead (54-37%) over Zeldin, a Long Island Republican.
Hochul increased her lead slightly from last month, when Siena pollsters found she was ahead of Zeldin by 14 points, 53-39%.
The new poll is consistent with an Emerson College poll from Sept. 9 that found Hochul had a 15-point lead over Zeldin, 50-35%.
The lone outlier among polls in the New York governor’s race is a Trafalgar Group poll released in the beginning of the month that showed Hochul held a narrow lead over Zeldin, 47.8%-43.4%.
The new Siena poll found the governor’s race is a dead heat among likely voters in Upstate New York (Hochul 44%, Zeldin 45%) while Hochul has built up dominant support in New York City, 70-20%.
Hochul, a native of Buffalo, is the state’s first governor from Upstate New York since Nathan Miller of Syracuse was elected in 1920.
Hochul leads among men (48-44%), women (61-29%), white (51-41%), Black (80-12%) and Latino voters (58-33%), the poll found.
Zeldin has a small lead (45-42%) among independent voters who are not enrolled in a political party.
“Zeldin’s narrow lead among independents is both good (it’s a lead) and bad (it’s narrow),” said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg. “To close or even narrow a 17-point gap, he would need to win a far greater share of independents, solidify Republican support, as well as pick off some more Democrats.”
Voters told Siena pollsters that the most important issues in the election are the economy (50%), threats to democracy (34%) and crime (29%).
“National gun policy, abortion and healthcare are important, but second tier issues for most voters,” Greenberg said.
The poll also asked about other statewide elections in November. It found:
- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., leads Republican challenger Joe Pinion by almost 20 points, 55-36%.
- New York Attorney General Letitia James has a wide lead over Republican challenger Michael Henry, 53-37%.
- State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli leads Republican Paul Rodriguez, 52-29%.
- New Yorkers strongly support a $4.2 billion environmental bond act on the November ballot, 55-26%.
President Joe Biden’s favorability and job approval ratings increased in September into positive territory in New York state. Voters had a favorable view of Biden (51-46%), up from 49-48% in August.
Biden’s job approval rating in the state is 53-46%, up from negative 47-51% in August.
The poll of 655 likely voters in New York state was conducted by live operators who called landlines and cell phones from Sept. 16 through Sept. 25. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
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