Marist poll: Kathy Hochul leads Bruce Blakeman by 11 points as election nears
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor, and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Credit: Morgan Campbell
ALBANY — Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul leads Republican Bruce Blakeman by 11 percentage points in a new poll published Wednesday by Marist University.
The survey said Hochul holds a 53% to 42% lead over the Nassau County executive. Hochul has a huge advantage in New York City, 69%-24% while Blakeman leads upstate, 51% to 43%, Marist said. The two are in a dead in the metro suburbs, which include Long Island, 48-48.
The 11-point margin closely matches the results of a Siena University poll two weeks ago that said Hochul leads 50-41. A September poll by Quinnipiac University said Hochul had a 19-point lead.
Marist said President Donald Trump’s job approval rating in New York State remains deeply in the negative, with 38% saying they approve of the job he is doing while 60% disapprove.
Further, 66% of New Yorkers said their vote for Congress would be a referendum on Trump one way or the other.
"The race for governor remains competitive but Donald Trump casts a long shadow over the race," Lee Miringoff, Marist's longtime pollster, told Newsday. Democrats' 2-1 voter enrollment advantage also is helping the governor.
"Blakeman faces a lot of headwinds in terms of trying to put things together to make it more competitive," Miringoff said. "She's advantaged by party registration, by Donald Trump's lack of popularity and by Blakeman not being known statewide."
He referred to 27% of poll respondents saying they had never heard of, or had no opinion about, the Nassau Republican and Election Day being less than a month away.
About 44% of New Yorkers said their congressional vote would be mainly a vote against Trump, 22% said theirs would be a vote for Trump and 33% said the president would have no bearing on their vote.
Overall, 55% of voters told Marist they plan to support a Democratic congressional candidate, 42% said Republican.
Marist surveyed 1,361 New York registered voters from Oct. 1-4. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, meaning the answers to each question could vary by that number.
Volunteer firefighter removed after Facebook comment... Town of North Hempstead proposes budget... Nearly 11% of Suffolk SNAP recipients lose benefits
Volunteer firefighter removed after Facebook comment... Town of North Hempstead proposes budget... Nearly 11% of Suffolk SNAP recipients lose benefits
