(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s favorability among voters has hit a new low, according to a poll, which shows the Democrat is less popular than former President Donald Trump in the deep-blue state.
The Siena College survey of 1,000 New Yorkers, conducted between Sept. 11-16, found only 34% of likely New York voters said they had a favorable opinion of the Democratic governor, compared with 39% for Trump.
Pollsters said data shows the percentage of New Yorkers who approve of Hochul’s job performance has also dropped since August. Now, only 39% of those surveyed approve of the job she is doing, while 56% do not. That’s compared to last month when her job approval rating stood at 46% against 49%, pollsters said.
Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said, “While Hochul’s favorability rating has never been outstanding … it has now hit an all-time low.”
“It is also worth noting that Hochul’s favorability rating, 20 points under water, is worse than Trump’s, 18 points under water,” Greenberg said in a statement. “To repeat, Kathy Hochul has a lower net favorability rating in New York than Donald Trump.”
Hochul’s sagging poll numbers come as she works to help win back the House of Representatives for Democrats by flipping key battleground districts in New York in the upcoming elections.
Trump, who held a rare campaign rally in New York’s Nassau County Wednesday night, has been seeking to support several GOP congressional candidates in the state, including Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, who first won the 4th Congressional District in 2022 and is seeking another term. His is one of five seats Democrats hope to flip to win a majority in the House.
Siena pollsters also found that New Yorkers are not happy with the state’s direction, which also doesn’t bode well for Democrats. Only 32% of voters think New York is on the right track, compared to a majority of 55% who say the state is headed in the wrong direction, according to the poll. In a previous poll just one month ago, it was 39-51%, a net movement of 11 points, the pollsters said.
“This is the most pessimistic New Yorkers have been about the direction of the state in at least a decade, Greenberg said. “It was close to this level, 34-55%, in January of this year. New Yorkers also remain pessimistic about the country’s direction, 31-59%, little changed from 30-61% last month.”
Pollsters found that voters in New York still back Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump by 13% in a head-to-head contest, which has changed little for either candidate from a previous poll released last month.
President Joe Biden won New York by 23 points in 2020, and Democrats have won by at least 18 points in every presidential election since 2000, pollsters noted.
“New York remains solidly ‘blue’ but perhaps not as deep blue as it has been in the last several presidential cycles,” Greenberg said.