Cuomo, Schumer unpopular in Siena poll — but voters like Democrats’ actions in Albany

Feb. 11--Voters are not so hot on New York's top Democrats, a new poll shows.

Gov. Cuomo's favorability rating fell to 43%, his lowest since entering the governor's mansion in 2011, according to a Siena College poll released Monday.

In more bad news for the governor, 50% of those polled now have a negative take on Cuomo, Siena found.

"Now, for the first time ever, half of New Yorkers view Andrew Cuomo unfavorably. It's his lowest favorability rating ever and his lowest-ever job performance as governor," said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

The decline was rapid, Siena says. Just last month, as he entered his third term in Albany, 51% of voters viewed Cuomo favorably, and 43% saw him unfavorably.

Cuomo's colleagues in the Democratic-controlled state Assembly and Senate are faring as well as him -- they earned the exact same 43% favorability rating among voters, the new poll data shows.

Though voters don't much like Cuomo or the Legislature, they do like what they see so far from this year's legislative session.

Most voters gave a thumbs up to new laws that strengthen abortion rights, aid undocumented immigrants attending college, expand the rights of child sex abuse victims to sue their attackers, and toughen gun control.

Nearly half of all voters gave Albany an 'A' or a 'B,' while only about one-quarter gave it a 'D' or 'F,' according to the poll.

Some 48% of voters believe Democratic control of the both houses of the Legislature and the governor's mansion will keep New York on the right track for the next two years. Just 41% of voters say Albany is moving in the wrong direction.

"Not surprisingly, more than two-thirds of Democrats say their party will move the state on the right track," said Greenberg.

And not surprisingly, Republicans aren't happy with Albany -- more than three-quarters of them say the state is moving in the wrong direction. "Independents, by a ten-point margin, side with the Republicans," Greenberg said.

Following a federal government shutdown over President Trump's demands for a border wall, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) saw his own favorability rating drop to 47% from 53% a month earlier.

While a solid majority of Democrats -- 63% -- see Schumer positively, a whopping 85% of Republicans expressed their dissatisfaction with the lawmaker.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who is currently exploring a bid for the White House, was not immune to the drop in popularity plaguing her Democratic colleagues. Her favorability rating fell from four points to 44%.

Most New Yorkers don't want Trump to declare a national emergency in order to circumvent Congress and start construction on the wall, which he once promised would be paid for by Mexico.

"Even if Congress fails to include the border wall funding, the President should not declare a national emergency to fund the wall, according to 83% of Democrats, 70% of independents and even 45% of Republicans," said to Greenberg.

"New Yorkers say 'no' to funding a border wall and they scream 'no' to Trump declaring a national emergency to fund the wall."

Cuomo senior adviser Rich Azzopardi disputed the poll numbers on Monday, citing a Siena poll last year that showed Republican Marc Molinaro within striking distance of being elected governor days before Cuomo was re-elected by a wide margin.

"Siena doesn't always get it right," Azzopardi said.

He added: "For the governor, Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, the state Senate and the state Assembly to all have similar across-the-board slides leads us to believe this poll is an outlier and -- much like the Siena poll three days before the November election -- doesn't reflect the sentiment of New Yorkers."

"We've had the most productive month in history that finally saw the passage of popular, long stalled legislation and we're going to continue to move New York forward," Azzopardi said.

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