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Gov. Hochul maintains lead over Rep. Lee Zeldin in latest Siena College Poll
By
Gwynne Hogan
and
Jon Campbell
Published Sep 28, 2022
Modified Sep 28, 2022
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By
Gwynne Hogan
and
Jon Campbell
Published Sep 28, 2022
Modified Sep 28, 2022
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Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul maintained a robust 17-point lead over her Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin in the race for governor, according to a new poll from the Siena College Research Institute released Tuesday.
Hochul inched up one percentage point since August, with 54% of voters polled supporting her. She now leads in the downstate suburbs, after falling behind in August.
Other Democratic incumbents up for re-election in November also maintained their leads, including U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Attorney General Letitia James, and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
With a little over a month until elections, the top three issues motivating prospective voters of either party were: economic issues, “threats to democracy” and crime, the poll found. It did not define "threats to democracy," but left it open to voters' interpretation.
Topics such as abortion and national gun policy were “second-tier issues for most voters” according to Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Albany, Hochul touted the steps her administration has taken ahead of the economic downturn, including setting more money aside in the state’s reserves and sending property-tax relief checks to New Yorkers as part of this year’s state budget.
“I'm very conscious of the (economic) challenges,” she said. “I don't need a poll to tell me that the economy is a problem. And there's some factors we can control, and there's many that we cannot.”
While the poll showed Hochul with a strong lead overall – due in large part to her support from 81% of likely Democratic voters – it also showed her trailing Zeldin among independent voters, 42% to 45%.
Hochul said she believes independent voters will start paying closer attention to the race closer to Election Day.
“Certainly independent voters, when the election gets closer, will be very focused on the extreme contrast between two individuals and who is prepared to lead this state into this post-pandemic era,” she said.
Since Hochul took office after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation last year, she’s amassed $37 million in campaign donations, largely from real estate moguls, hedge fund executives, and wealthy business elites, according to state campaign finance records.
Zeldin has so far raised $9 million.
He held a news conference Wednesday at Columbus Square in Astoria, where he and fellow Republicans railed against efforts to rename Columbus Day.
In response to a question from CBS2’s Marcia Kramer, Zeldin made clear he had little regard for the Siena poll, calling it “inaccurate.”
“I don’t know if you have any pets, Marcia, and if you do, if they’re potty trained,” Zeldin said. “But that Siena poll would be good to use for that purpose.”
Greenberg, the Siena College pollster, said it was not surprising that Hochul and other Democratic incumbents were leading.
“Those Republican challengers – underfunded compared to the Democrats – have their work cut out for them in a state with more than twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans, more independents than registered Republicans, and where the GOP hasn’t won a statewide election in 20 years,” Greenberg said in a press release.
Hochul and Zeldin have yet to debate one another. While Hochul has agreed to participate in a debate hosted by Spectrum News NY1 on Oct. 25, Zeldin has not yet agreed to attend, and instead challenged Hochul to a series of debates around the state.
You have until Oct. 14 to send in a voter registration application. The general midterm election is on Nov. 8. If you’re already registered, you can find your polling site online.
Tagged
Lee Zeldin
Kathy Hochul
election
Gwynne Hogan
Gwynne Hogan is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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