BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – Governor Andrew Cuomo may have a new lifeline in his political career after polling shows that a majority of New Yorkers believe he should not resign amid a wave of sexual harassment allegations.
The Siena College poll shows 50% of New Yorkers the governor should not resign.
Republican political strategist Carl Calabrese was not surprised by the poll results because of the governor's popularity in New York City, which is overwhelmingly democratic.
"As long as he maintains that level of support in New York City, his statewide numbers are going to be what they are now," Calabrese said.
Multiple women, including former aides, have accused the governor of sexual harassment. Cuomo is also facing criticisms over his handling of the nursing home crisis and a recent allegations that his vaccine czar passively pressured democratic county executives by gauging their support of the governor amid the allegations.
Len Lenihan, the former chairman of the Erie County Democratic Committee, said a majority of New Yorkers want to wait for the full facts to come out on the governor before they make up their mind on whether or not he should resign.
He said the governor's current political career is in upheaval.
"A month ago he was riding an unprecedented positive situation and all of that has been turned upside down," Lenihan said. "I would say chaos is probably the term and that's why we need to get the facts. These investigations need to be completed so we can really separate the wheat from the chaff and find out where the facts lie. I think that's probably where we are right now and for the next period of time.
The governor is defiant in the wave of the accusations. He has refused to resign despite near unanimous calls to do so from republicans and even a significant, though not a majority, of democrats.
The governor's controversies will provide new challenges for him to negotiate the budget, which is due April 1. But the political experts believe the governor will continue to move forward
"Unless he's removed by the state assembly, he has a right to fill out his term," Lenihan said. "I think most people at this point are waiting for the facts to come out from the investigation…I think that's what it's going to take for it to get resolved."
Lenihan also recounted how Virginia Governor Ralph Northam survived national criticism after old photos of him in blackface surfaced.
"Democrats at the national and state level were calling on (Northam) to resign and he didn't," Lenihan said. "Now he's successfully finishing his term. I don't know if that equates to what our governor is doing."
While the governor intends to stay on the job, his long-term future is in doubt. The Siena poll said only one-third of New Yorkers would re-elect Cuomo. Calabrese said this gives republicans an opportunity to gain some ground in New York, but especially democrats who want to primary the governor.
"From the minute (Letitia James) released that report on the nursing homes, that was the speculation amongst political folks on both sides of the aisle, that she might very well have ambitions to take him on in the primary and that was the first effort to bloody him up and it certainly did."
