Poll: NY Republicans and Democrats live in different worlds

                                                                        

From Siena College Research Institute press release

                                 
Its been obvious for a while now that Democrats and Republicans live in different worlds politically since former President Donald Trump came on the scene in 2016. 

A Siena College Research Institute poll released today confirms they hold radically different opinions throughout blue state New York.

But Gov. Andrew Cuomo's alleged offenses  are bringing the two sides together.

The Siena poll of 801 registered voters from April 11 through April 15 indicates their political opinions are converging against Cuomo.

From a favorability rating of 77 percent in April 2020 -- among the highest ever for the Democratic governor as he appeared almost daily on television talking about the coronavirus pandemic -- Cuomo's popularity has flipped to 52 percent unfavorable this month, the poll reports.

It's clear that allegations of sexual harrassment, coverup of nursing home deaths, bullying and collecting a reported $4 million from a book deal in the midst of the pandemic has taken its toll on Cuomo. He has denied any wrongdoing.

But let's look at voters' differing world views:

Take Trump for example; 87 percent of Democrats hold an unfavorable view of the former Republican president while 75 percent of the Republicans have a favorable opinion.

Independent or "other" party voters appear to split the difference with  56 percent rating Trump unfavorably.

The opposite is true for Joe Biden: 84 of Democrats like the Democratic president compared to 21 percent of Republicans.

Again, independents split: 55 percent rate Biden favorably while 41 percent don't like him.

What about New York suburban voters?  The poll shows 59 percent have unfavorable opinion about  Trump while 55 percent hold favorable views of Biden.

Cuomo's popularity among Democrats across the state is still above water, with 56 percent viewing him favorably versus 37 percent who do not. In comparison, 20 percent of Republicans hold a favorable opinion of Cuomos while 80 percent do not like him.

Independents gave Cuomo a 52 percent unfavorable rating.

But Cuomo suffers in the suburbs; 56 percent of suburban voters have an unfavorable opinion of the governor, 58 percent say he is doing a fair to poor job and only 26 percent say they would re-elect him.

So those surburban Democratic leaders who have jumped on the Cuomo bandwagon over the past few years might want to quietly step off.  Talking to you Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.

Also, 77 percent of suburban voters say Cuomo has done fair to poor job in making public data about nursing home deaths. The number is not surprising considering that the nursing home advocacy group Voices for Seniors started in the suburbs on Long Island after a Cuomo March 2020 directive ordered nursing homes to accept hospital-released coronavirus patients, whether or not they were still contagious.

Regardless of Cuomo, the poll also found a surprising result among suburban voters on one controversial issue. Though suburban voters, like those on Long Island, in the past have opposed some benefits for undocumented immigrants, such as drivers' licenses, the Siena poll found that 49 percent approve of a plan to provide $2.1 billion in taxpayer assistance to workers including undocumented immigrants who lost unemployment during the pandemic; 44 percent disapprove.