New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s job approval rating has reached a new high, according to a recent poll conducted by Siena College. The poll revealed that 56% of registered voters approve of the job Hochul is doing, up from 49% last month. Her favorability rating also increased, with 48% of voters viewing her favorably, up from 45% last month.
The poll also found that six of Hochul’s State of the State proposals have strong to overwhelming support among voters, including four that have bipartisan support. A majority of voters agreed with Hochul’s proposal not to raise state income taxes this year, with no difference among Democrats, Republicans, and independents. Strong majorities of voters of every partisan persuasion also supported three of her other proposals, including guaranteeing state employees up to 12 weeks of paid family leave, basing the minimum wage on the inflation rate, and giving judges more discretion to set bail for offenders accused of serious crimes.
However, Hochul’s proposal to allow SUNY schools to increase tuition was met with strong opposition from voters of all partisan persuasions. Additionally, two other Hochul proposals, CAP and INVEST and state ERA, received strong overall support despite Republican opposition.
The poll also found that a majority of voters believe Hochul will make progress this year on creating jobs and opportunities for New Yorkers, but not on making the state more affordable. A majority think she will not make progress in 2023 on making the state more affordable, 59-25%, and pluralities think she will not make progress on making the state safer, 45-36%, or fixing its mental health system, 46-38%. Voters are closely divided on whether they think she will make progress on creating 800,000 new homes.
According to Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg, with the exception of making New York more affordable, Democrats are optimistic that Hochul will make progress on all five goals. On the other hand, Republicans say she will not make progress toward achieving any of her goals by margins of between 46 and 70 percentage points. Independents think Hochul will make progress this year creating jobs but not on any other goal, though they’re not nearly as negative as Republicans.
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