New Yorkers overwhelmingly think liar Rep. George Santos (R-Nassau) ought to resign, especially voters from areas like the Nassau-based district he is fighting to hold, according to a Siena College poll released Monday.
A whopping 71% of suburbanites think he should quit so someone else can rep the district straddling the Queens county line while just 8% of them have a favorable opinion of Santos – the lowest of any group along with seniors in the poll of 821 registered voters conducted Jan. 15-19.
“Voters overwhelmingly view Santos unfavorably, including 55% of Democrats, 56% of Republicans and 59% of independents. Again, downstate suburbanites lead the state, 76%, in their unfavorable view of Santos,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.
But the embattled freshman rep – who has said he would resign if “142,000 voters who voted for me” demanded it– does not have to worry about name recognition, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 4.3%.
“It is fascinating that Santos has gone from largely unknown freshman representative-elect to being more well known to New Yorkers than Brooklyn’s Hakeem Jeffries, just elected to his sixth term and the new U.S. House Minority Leader,” he said.
Greenberg noted that other New York pols hardly have to deal with the political headaches associated with ongoing revelations about the conservative pol’s personal story that includes fake jobs on Wall Street and reportedly dashed dreams as an aspiring Brazilian drag queen.
“It must be pointed out that Jeffries is viewed favorably, 33-20%,” Greenberg said.
The poll found voters remain bearish about the state and country, with 49% and 63% respectively saying they are heading in the wrong direction compared to 39% and 28% who say the right direction with the remainder expressing no opinion,
Gov. Kathy Hochul has a favorable job rating with 56% of voters approving compared to 36% who disapprove – a noticeable improvement from last month when 49% approved compared to 44% who disapproved.
Keeping track of all NY Rep. George Santos lies
Such numbers were not the only good news in the poll for the governor amid a politically costly fight with Democratic state senators over her pick to lead the state’s highest court, which got rejected by a Senate panel last week.
A 65% majority of voters said they support the idea of giving judges more discretion to set bail for people accused of serious crimes, an idea floated in the State of the State speech Hochul delivered on Jan. 10, compared to 24% who are opposed,
Majorities of voters also gave the thumbs up to other Hochul proposals:
- Not raising income taxes – 85% support and 10% oppose
- Tying minimum wage increases to inflation – 76% support and 19% oppose
- Guaranteeing state employees 12 week paid family leave – 76% support and 17% oppose
- Passing an Equal Rights Amendment to the state Constitution – 68% support and 20% oppose
- A “Cap and Invest” proposal to charge large polluters for emissions and investment money in clean energy programs – 61% support and 29% oppose
But a 62% majority opposes the governor’s plan to increase tuition at SUNY campuses with just 28% supporting the idea.
“Strong majorities of voters of every partisan persuasion support three of her other proposals: 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,” Greenberg said.
“Partisans also agree – though Democrats not as much – in their opposition to Hochul’s proposal to allow SUNY schools to increase tuition,” he added. “Two other Hochul proposals enjoy strong overall support, despite Republican opposition – a majority on CAP and INVEST, and a plurality on a state ERA.”
Voters were evenly divided 38% to 38% on the issue of having a casino in Manhattan – 16% want more info and 7% had no opinion – with the issue similarly dividing voters across partisan, age and geography.
New Yorkers continue to express near unanimity over the seriousness of crime, with 30% saying it is a “very serious” problem alongside 35% who say “somewhat serious” compared to just 34% who say either “not very serious” or “not serious at all.”
Hochul won the closest gubernatorial election in two decades against a Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, who ran hard on the issue of rising crime while the Democratic incumbent largely focused on abortion rights, gun control and his ties to ex-President Donald Trump.
Voters largely expressed pessimism about her ability over the next year to meet goals outlined in her recent address as she seeks to regain political momentum bruising start to her newly-won term.
- A 45% plurality say she will not make New York safer over the next year while 36% said she will alongside 13% with a mixed opinion and 5% who do not know.
- A 59% majority say she will not make the state more affordable while 25% say she will, 11% are mixed, and 5% have no opinion.
- A 54% majority say she will create “more jobs and opportunities” and 32% say she will not, 10% are mixed and 4% do not know.
- A 41% plurality say she will not create 800,000 new homes over the next decade compared to 39% who say she will, 12% who are mixed, and 7% with no opinion.
- A 46% plurality say she will not fix the states mental health care system while 38% say she will, 11% are mixed, and 6% have no opinion.
“With the exception of making New York more affordable – even Democrats don’t think she’ll make progress on that – Democrats are optimistic that Hochul will make progress on all five goals,” Greenberg said.
“On the other hand, by margins of between 46 and 70 percentage points, Republicans say she will not make progress toward achieving any of her goals. 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,” he added.
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