Kathy Hochul is ceremonially sworn in as 57th Governor of the State of New York. Photo by NYS Senate Media Services, Flikr, 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).

Former Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul was sworn in as New York's first female governor on August 24. Fifty days after being sworn in as governor, the Marist Poll found that 49% of New Yorker’s approved of the job Hochul was doing as governor.

“Governor Hochul is doing well among New Yorkers in terms of her performance in office and is the frontrunner among Democrats in her primary prospects for the nomination,” Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion said.

Hochul was sworn in as governor after the resignation of former New York governor Andrew Cuomo. Coumo resigned after a series of sexual assualt allegations against him and has since been charged with a misdemeanor sex-crime complaint alleging he forcibly touched a woman last Dec. 7 in the governor’s Executive Mansion in Albany.

A report issued by the state Attorney General’s office in August found that Cuomo had sexually harassed at least 11 current and former staffers, including a state police trooper assigned to his protective detail and women outside of government.

When asked by the Marist Poll, 56% of New York residents believe Hochul is a “good leader” for the state. In contrast, 77% of New Yorkers say they do not want former governor Cuomo to run to reclaim the office next year, including 74% of Democrats.

“Andrew Cuomo needs to substantially redefine voters’ perceptions of him if he wants to run for governor again,” Miringoff said.

In terms of Hochul’s approval rating in regards to the economy and her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, she received resident’s support. 47% of New Yorkers approve of the job Hochul is doing on the economy. More than half of New York residents (55%) approved of Hochul’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The vaccine is the best tool we have to prevent a spike in our numbers like we saw last year,” Governor Hochul said to ABC on Saturday. “Now with booster shots available, it is crucial that New Yorkers continue to do what’s best for their communities and their loved ones.”

Half of New York residents also believe that Hochul is successfully representing all regions of the state. Around 46% of residents agree that she is changing the way things work in Albany for the better.

Currently, New Yorkers have a negative view of the direction the state is going in. The Marist Poll found that 39% of residents said that New York is going in the right direction while 54% said the state is going in the wrong direction.

When asked what candidates residents would support if next year’s democratic primary was held today, 44% of New Yorkers supported Hochul. Since Hochull has only been the governor of for a short time, 20% of New Yorker’s are unsure about the job that she is doing. While Hochul has good support among residents now, she will continue to face challenges over the next year and has no guarantees of reelection in 2022.

New York Approval Rating of Governor Hochul

MARIST CIRCLE