The Empire State wants to see its scion Gov. Andrew Cuomo do battle with its black sheep, President-elect Donald Trump, just about everywhere except the campaign trail, a new survey by Quinnipiac University shows.
The Cain and Abel of Queens have opposite approval ratings, with just 31 percent of New Yorkers saying they hold a favorable view of the incoming commander-in-chief, compared to 59 percent who view him unfavorably. By contrast, 49 percent of the 1,130 residents polled statewide approved of Cuomo’s performance as governor—just a one point decline from his support in July—while 39 percent said they disapproved.
Quinnipiac discovered 67 percent of the populace believes Cuomo possesses “strong leadership qualities,” and half want him to “become a national leader challenging the policies of the Trump Administration.” But 56 percent said he would not make a good presidential candidate in four years, and 54 percent think he would make a poor president.
“New York State voters want their governor to be a warrior fighting the policies of another New Yorker, President-elect Donald Trump, but they don’t want their governor to seek the top job—at least not this early in the game,” said pollster Maurice Carroll.
The numbers for Trump appear to be in tune with his performance in New York on Election Night. Clinton beat him here 59 percent to 36.5, making the Manhattan developer the first president since James K. Polk to lose both the state of his birth and residence and still win the White House.
The study discovered poor support for the leader-to-be even in regions where he did relatively well—just 37 percent of upstate likes him—and among his core demographic, as less than half of white men surveyed reported a positive opinion of the businessman. However, it is worth noting polls released prior to Election Day appear to have underestimated the strength of his support.
The 2016 election cycle proved devastating for Democrats across the nation, and Cuomo will be one of just 16 governors from his party at the start of next year. This has enhanced hype about his presidential prospects, even though he made the strange move of declaring the day after the election that Trump’s New York roots were “a bonus” for the state.
The governor backtracked on this comment days later, and vowed to shield New York’s immigrant communities from the new administration’s deportation-happy agenda. Cuomo has already vowed to run for a third term in 2018, but so far shrugged off presidential buzz.
The survey suggests that the arrest and indictment of eight of his top aides and donors on corruption charges this fall has had little impact on his popularity.
Disclosure: Donald Trump is the father-in-law of Jared Kushner, the publisher of Observer Media.
