Opinion Poll Finds New Yorkers Want Patterson To Stay As Gov
PATERSON SHOULD STAY, DESPITE LOWEST APPROVAL EVER,
NEW YORK STATE VOTERS TELL QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL;
INDEPENDENT PROSECUTOR SHOULD PROBE GOV, VOTERS SAY 2-1
New York Gov. David Paterson should finish his term, rather than resign, New York State voters say 61 – 31 percent in a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
There was a measurable drop in support for Paterson, especially among women, after media reports that the Governor was more directly involved in contact by his administration with a woman who had made charges of domestic violence against one of Paterson’s aides.
Support for Paterson staying in office until December 31 is 64 – 28 percent among Democrats, 57 – 33 percent among Republicans and 58 – 34 percent among independent voters, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Women say 56 – 32 percent that Paterson should finish his term, while men support that 66 – 29 percent.
Black voters want the Governor to stay 70 – 24 percent, compared to 57 – 34 percent among white voters.
Voters disapprove 62 – 24 percent of the job Gov. Paterson is doing, his worst score ever.
By contrast, New York State voters approve 70 – 16 percent of the job Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is doing. Even Republicans approve 62 – 25 percent.
But voters say 61 – 25 percent that an independent prosecutor, not Cuomo, should investigate allegations that the Paterson administration interfered in a case of possible domestic abuse. Support for an independent prosecutor is strong across party lines.
“New York State voters give Gov. David Paterson big negatives, his lowest ever in a year-long crash dive, but they’re not ready to pull the trigger,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
“Whether it’s mercy, pity or a fear of stepping into the unknown, it runs across all the demographic categories.”
“But there was a noticeable slip in support from the first night to the second night of the survey, after more damaging news came out and the National Organization for Women called for the Governor to step down,” Carroll added. “Could this continue getting worse by the day?
“Politicians know that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has a touchy task investigating the stuff about Paterson. Voters give Cuomo stratospheric job-approval numbers, but they'd sooner have an independent prosecutor do the investigating.”
New York State voters give Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch a split 24 – 24 percent job approval rating, with 53 percent undecided. Ravitch gets a 12 – 9 percent favorability, but 78 percent of voters don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.
Paterson would do a better job than Ravitch governing New York State this year, voters say 47 – 29 percent, with 23 percent undecided. Results are consistent among Democrats, Republicans and independent voters.
“Richard Ravitch? Voters ask: Who is he? More voters think Paterson would do a better job running the state than Ravitch would,” Carroll said.
From March 1 – 2, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,237 New York State registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and nationwide as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed– http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter.
1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way David Paterson is handling his job
as Governor?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk
Approve 24% 20% 27% 21% 21% 26% 19% 38%
Disapprove 62 69 58 62 66 58 68 43
DK/NA 15 11 15 16 12 17 13 19
UpState..... UpState
Urban Othr Total NYC Sub
Approve 36% 23% 25% 24% 20%
Disapprove 49 67 64 57 63
DK/NA 16 10 11 18 17
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way David Paterson is handling his
job as Governor?
APPROVE....... DIS...
High Low High
Mar 03 Feb 3 Dec 15 Oct 21 Aug 6 Mar 03 Mar 03
2010 2010 2009 2009 2008 2010 2010
Approve 24 37 40 30 64 24 24
Disapprove 62 54 49 57 14 62 62
DK/NA 15 8 11 14 22 15 15
2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Richard Ravitch is handling his
job as Lieutenant Governor?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk
Approve 24% 22% 26% 22% 27% 21% 22% 27%
Disapprove 24 24 21 28 28 20 22 27
DK/NA 53 54 52 50 45 59 57 46
UpState..... UpState
Urban Othr Total NYC Sub
Approve 14% 19% 18% 30% 22%
Disapprove 24 23 23 27 19
DK/NA 62 58 58 42 59
3. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Andrew Cuomo is handling his job
as State Attorney General?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk
Approve 70% 62% 74% 72% 70% 69% 71% 67%
Disapprove 16 25 12 16 21 13 16 16
DK/NA 14 14 15 12 9 18 13 17
UpState..... UpState
Urban Othr Total NYC Sub
Approve 70% 70% 70% 70% 68%
Disapprove 14 17 17 14 20
DK/NA 16 13 13 16 12
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Andrew Cuomo is handling his job
as State Attorney General?
APPROVE....... DIS...
High Low High
Mar 03 Feb 3 Dec 15 Oct 21 Feb 17 Feb 13 Jul 31
2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2007 2007
Approve 70 71 74 71 76 42 68
Disapprove 16 15 12 11 11 16 19
DK/NA 14 15 14 18 13 42 14
4. Is your opinion of David Paterson favorable, unfavorable or haven't you
heard enough about him?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk
Favorable 26% 21% 29% 26% 27% 26% 20% 41%
Unfavorable 56 65 51 58 60 54 64 42
Hvn't hrd enough 14 12 15 13 11 16 13 10
REFUSED 3 2 5 2 2 4 3 7
UpState..... UpState
Urban Othr Total NYC Sub
Favorable 34% 23% 24% 28% 26%
Unfavorable 50 62 61 50 58
Hvn't hrd enough 12 12 12 16 14
REFUSED 4 3 3 6 1
TREND: Is your opinion of David Paterson favorable, unfavorable or haven't you
heard enough about him?
FAVORABLE.....
High Low
Mar 03 Feb 3 Dec 15 Oct 21 Aug 16 Jan 26 May 13
2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009
Favorable 26 34 38 28 26 48 24
Unfavorable 56 49 44 52 53 25 55
Hvn't hrd enough 14 15 15 15 18 24 18
REFUSED 3 3 3 5 3 3 3
5. Do you think Governor Paterson should serve his full term until December
31 or should he resign?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk
Serve full term 61% 57% 64% 58% 66% 56% 57% 70%
Resign 31 33 28 34 29 32 34 24
DK/NA 9 10 8 8 5 11 9 7
UpState..... UpState
Urban Othr Total NYC Sub
Serve full term 71% 58% 59% 61% 63%
Resign 23 34 33 30 29
DK/NA 6 8 8 9 9
6. Is your opinion of Richard Ravitch favorable, unfavorable or haven't you
heard enough about him?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk
Favorable 12% 9%
