Loudonville, N.Y. (WBEN) - The gap is narrowing in the race for New York's governor, incumbent Kathy Hochul has an 11-point lead over her opponent, Republican candidate Lee Zeldin, according to the Siena College poll released Tuesday.
Compared to a 17-point lead several weeks ago, the gap is continuing to shrink based on polling numbers, "52% of likely voters say they're with the incumbent, Democrat Kathy Hochul. 41% are with the Republican congressman from Long Island, Lee Zeldin. 6% of voters still tell us they're undecided. We see a huge, not surprising partisan difference. Democrats with Hochul 84% to 10%. Republicans with Zeldin, 81% to 12%." Siena pollster Steve Greenberg tells WBEN on Tuesday.
In addition, the race for Attorney General also tightened, as Letitia James, the incumbent Democrat, now leads Republican Michael Henry 51-40%, down from 53-37% in September.
Some leads have strengthened according to the poll but not by much. In the race for US Senator, incumbent Democrat Chuck Schumer leads Republican Joe Pinion 57-37%; last month it was 55-36%. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, also a Democrat, continues to have a big lead over Republican Paul Rodriguez, now 54-30%, 52-29% being last month's results.
While the poll shows Zeldin has garnered a stronger support from Republicans, he also continues to garner votes among independents. His lead increases among independent voters, 49% to Hochul's 40%.
However, in a state that has voters registered largely as democratic, Greenberg predicts Zeldin needs to do better among independents, "In a state that has 50% of its enrolled voters as Democrats and 22% Republican, they [Republicans] have to do a better job with independents. Right now, Zeldin is leading with independents, but he's only got the support of 49% of them. He's only picking up support from 10% of Democrats right now. If he wants to win this race, he's got to do better with independents and start to pick away some Democrats from Governor Hochul given the huge enrollment advantage she enjoys."
In addition, a majority of New Yorkers believe that economically, the state is not on the right track says Greenberg, "Right now, only 39% of New Yorkers thinks the state is on the right track. A majority 52% think we're headed off in the wrong direction, a little bit worse than it was back a month ago when it was 41%."
Unsurprisingly, this question in the poll shows the political divide, "61% of Democrats think the state is on the right track, but 87% of Republicans and 56% of independents think we're headed in the wrong direction," says Greenberg.
Greenberg notes that Biden's favorability rating has improved favorably among New Yorkers polled, "We do see some consistency here in terms of right now. 53% of New Yorkers approve of the job Biden is doing and 45% disapprove, up three points from last month and up several points from backing earlier in the summer."
General elections are November 8th. Click here to see the full results of the poll.
