Democratic candidates hoping to unseat the current governor in the upcoming primary election, now three months away, still face a massive poll deficit.
Gov. Kathy Hochul leads her party rivals by at least 40 points among registered voters, according to a new Siena College poll out Monday. NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi trail her with 12% and 11% of the vote, respectively. An estimated 24% of voters remain undecided.
It's stayed a three-person race for the Democrats for months now, with former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio declining to run after hinting at a bid. But another familiar name could still enter before the June 22 primary.
Questions have swirled for weeks as to whether former Gov. Andrew Cuomo would take another shot at governor. Two recent public appearances in the city have opened the door to speculation, which Cuomo hasn't denied, despite his resignation in the face of multiple scandals.
Cuomo's entrance in this year's gubernatorial race remains a question on the minds of many, including Siena, which polled voters should he decide to run again. And while he performs stronger than Suozzi and Williams, Cuomo trails Hochul 30%-38% among the registered voters.
Hochul leads Cuomo by around 23 points among white voters, Siena found, nearly offsetting his 27-point lead among Black voters. The two come within the margin of error among Latino voters.
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A majority (67%) of the body polled would rather not see the former governor make another bid for the seat.
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The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to face Rep. Lee Zeldin, an ardent Trump supporter from Long Island who the state Republican Party has already called its frontrunner. In the Siena poll, some 60% of voters surveyed said they didn't know who Zeldin was or had no opinion of him.
The poll of 804 registered voters was conducted March 20-24 and has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.
