NEW YORK (PIX11) — Exclusive polling from News 4, The Hill and Emerson College found former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned last August amid multiple scandals, could run competitively in a Democrat Primary for governor.
Cuomo has not said he is running, but a recent re-emergence into the public eye raises questions about his future plans.
In a theoretical Democratic Primary, Cuomo would get 33% of the vote, according to the poll. His successor, Kathy Hochul, the first woman to be governor of New York would get 37% of the vote. No other candidates running, including NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, nor Long Island Congressman Tom Suozzi, broke 10%. Nine Percent were undecided. The Democratic Primary is scheduled for June 28.
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Cuomo is getting support in the poll from African American and women voters. The poll showed 59% of African American Democratic Primary voters would still support him. He also picks up 35.5% of women, more than Hochul.
Without Cuomo in the mix, Hochul easily leads the field: 42% of Democratic voters surveyed support the current governor. Williams got the support of 10% of Democrats, Suozzi got 7%. According to the poll, 27% of Democratic primary voters remain undecided.
Despite consolidating support from the majority of elected and institutional Democrats across New York state, Gov. Hochul’s approval is slightly under water, according to the poll: 40% of voters approve of the governor’s leadership seven months after she took over from Cuomo while 40.5% disapprove. The remainder are undecided.
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Former Gov. Cuomo still faces an uncertain future based on other information in the poll: 59% of New Yorkers said they trust the Attorney General’s report on claims he sexually harassed women while 63% say he should not re-enter public office.
If Cuomo chooses to run for New York Attorney General this year, a job he once had, his path to victory seems difficult based on the poll. Cuomo got the support of 32.5% of Democrats surveyed, while current AG Letitia James got more than 45% of Democrats.
Polling also showed Gov. Cuomo receiving the support of less than 13% of those surveyed should he choose to run as an independent candidate for either governor or attorney general.
The same poll showed the Republican Primary for governor is much closer than the Democratic race without Cuomo. Long Island Congressman Lee Zeldin ahead at 27%, followed by Andrew Guiliani, son of the former Mayor and special assistant to former President Donald Trump with 17%. 23% of Republicans are undecided.
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Emerson College surveyed 1,000 voters: 504 self-identified as Democrats, 225 as Republicans, and 271 as Independents or other.
The poll takers were also broken down based on gender: 479 men took part in the survey, 507 women, and 14 nonbinary individuals. The overall margin of error for the survey was +/-3 for questions involving all partisan identifications, +/- 4.3% for questions involving only Democrats, +/-6.5 for questions involving only Republicans.