By Hank Russell
The race for governor just got a lot more interesting as Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman continues to catch up to Governor Kathy Hochul, according to a new poll.
The Siena Research Institute just released a poll that shows Blakeman, a Republican, trailing by only nine points, with 50% of all likely voters supporting Hochul, the incumbent Democrat, and 41% going for Blakeman, based on results from last month. That is a slight improvement for the challenger, when the previous poll had him behind 49%-39% in August.
The poll was conducted from September 11 to September 17 among 1,144 likely New York voters.
What’s more, Blakeman is doing a better job within his own party, with 88% saying they would vote for him, compared to 8% who said they would not. Hochul was less successful, with 81% of Democrats saying they would vote for her and 11% saying they would not. In addition, 44% of independent voters said they would support Blakeman and 39% said Hochul would get their vote.
As for Hochul, while her favorability rating has improved in September 48%-46%, compared to 46%-49% in August, her job approval rating remained unchanged at 48%. However, her disapproval rating fell from 49% to 47%. Blakeman’s favorability rating, meanwhile, was at 35% in September — up from 33% the previous month. But his unfavorable rating shot up from 26% in August to 34% last month.
When it comes to addressing certain issues in the state, more likely voters said Hochul would do a better job on affordability (49%-40%), keeping New Yorkers safe (49%-43%) and addressing undocumented immigrants living here (47%-43%).
Despite the good news for Hochul, the poll shows that more likely voters have expressed pessimism about where the state is headed. Only 38% say New York is on the right track — down from 43% the previous month — while 49% say it is heading in the wrong direction, compared to 47% in August.
Both sides reacted to the results.
“Bruce Blakeman’s Donald Trump obsession is a problem for this state and for his campaign, and New Yorkers can see it,” a Hochul campaign spokesperson said. “No one wants a Trump puppet in the governor’s mansion who will cut their healthcare, raise their costs, and let ICE trample their rights — they trust Governor Hochul’s record of investing in public safety, lowering crime, and putting money back in their pockets — and they know she’ll fight for their families, not Trump.”
“All polls continue to show Kathy Hochul’s downward spiral and me closing the gap as New Yorkers learn more about my plan to cut income taxes by historic margins and slash electric bills in half,” Blakeman said. “And let’s remember: at this point in the 2022 race, a Siena poll had Lee Zeldin trailing Kathy Hochul by 17 points. Today, our race is in single digits, with one-third of New Yorkers still needing to learn more about me,” Nassau County Executive and candidate for Governor of New York Bruce Blakeman said in response to the Siena poll released today.”