Gov. Kathy Hochul’s lead over Republican Bruce Blakeman has narrowed to 10 percentage points in the race for New York governor only three months before the election, according to a new poll published Tuesday.
Hochul leads Blakeman 49%-39% in the statewide poll of likely voters conducted by the Siena Research Institute. It was Siena’s first poll of likely voters in this year’s election.
A Siena poll in June of registered New York voters — a wider measure — showed Hochul had a commanding 20-point lead over Blakeman, 52%-32%.
In the new poll, Hochul’s strongest support is in New York City (64-19%) while Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, is favored by voters in the city’s suburbs in Long Island and Westchester County (49%-41%).
The candidates were virtually tied among likely voters in Upstate New York (Blakeman 46%-Hochul 45%), the poll found. Blakeman is running alongside his pick for lieutenant governor, Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood.
The Siena poll in June found Hochul, a Buffalo area native and Syracuse University graduate, led Blakeman in Upstate New York by 5 percentage points, 43%-38%.
The new poll comes only days before President Donald Trump plans to join Blakeman for campaign stops Friday in Long Island. The two men are longtime political allies. Blakeman has doubled down on his support for Trump during his campaign for governor.
Voters surveyed in the new poll said Hochul would do a better job than Blakeman on increasing the supply of affordable housing (51%-35%), making prices more affordable for average New Yorkers (48%-41%) and developing New York’s energy future (47%-42%).
Voters were closely divided between the two candidates on the issue of keeping New Yorkers safe (Hochul is favored 47%-44%) and addressing undocumented immigrants living in New York (Hochul is favored 45%-44%).
The poll found voters strongly support Hochul’s one-year moratorium on the construction of large data centers in the state (52%-25%) that she imposed last month. New York became the first state in the nation to order a pause on new data centers.
In a visit to Syracuse in July, Blakeman criticized Hochul over her executive order and reiterated his support for building data centers.
Blakeman said the industry’s big demands for electricity and water can be addressed by requiring developers to build their own power generation and water recirculation systems.
Siena pollster Steve Greenberg said Tuesday’s poll found independent voters favor Blakeman over Hochul, 45%-40%, consistent with earlier polls of registered voters this year.
Both candidates held on to their partisan bases, Greenberg said, with Hochul leading among Democrats (80%-8%) and Blakeman leading among Republicans (84%-9%).
The poll uncovered some weaknesses for Hochul compared to Blakeman when voters were asked whether four different character traits describe the candidate.
Blakeman received higher ratings than Hochul on the traits of being tough, honest and having the ability to get things done. Both candidates were viewed negatively when voters were asked if the two are “in touch with average New Yorkers.”
Siena pollsters also asked voters for the first time what they thought about the Democratic Socialists of America, the political movement that catapulted some candidates to political upsets in the state’s Democratic primary elections in June.
Likely voters said they had negative views of the DSA, with 47% viewing the group unfavorably and 30% favorably.
While 50% of Democrats viewed the DSA favorably, 82% of Republicans and 57% of independent voters had an unfavorable view, the poll found.
Separately, the poll asked likely voters who they planned to vote for in the Nov. 3 election for state attorney general and comptroller.
Democratic Attorney General Letitia James has a comfortable lead over Republican challenger Saritha Komatireddy, 54%-36%, the poll found.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, a Democrat, leads Republican Joseph Hernandez, 55%-32%.
Siena surveyed 811 likely New York voters between Aug. 3 and Aug. 6. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.