Siena College Poll:

Majority of Voters Say Paterson Need Not Resign

71% Do Not Want Him Impeached If He Doesn’t Resign

Confidence in Popular Attorney General to Conduct Fair Investigation

54% of Voters Are Now “Embarrassed” to Call Themselves New Yorkers

Loudonville, NY.  A clear majority of voters, 55 percent, would prefer Governor David Paterson serve the remainder of his term, compared to 37 percent who would like him to resign and allow Lt. Governor Richard Ravitch to serve as governor for the remainder of the year.  And an even larger majority, 71 percent, would rather see the Governor finish his term, while 21 percent would like the State Legislature to move to impeach the Governor if he does not resign, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll of registered voters. 

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo remains strongly popular with voters and a majority thinks he will conduct a fair and impartial investigation of the Governor and his staff, although two-thirds of voters would prefer to see the investigation conducted by an independent, outside prosecutor.  While 70 percent of voters agree with the statement that New York has never been more dysfunctional than today, by 54-41 percent voters also say that what’s going on in Albany makes them “embarrassed” to call themselves New Yorkers. 

“More voters have an unfavorable view of David Paterson now than at any time, and more voters view the job he’s doing as governor as poor than at any time in the two years he’s been governor.  Yet, a clear majority want to see him serve out the remaining nine months of his term rather than resign by a more than three-to-one margin, voters do not want to see the Legislature begin impeachment proceedings,” said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg.

“Republicans and downstate suburbanites are evenly divided on the resignation question, however, a majority of Democrats, independents, New York City and Upstate voters all favor the Governor staying on the job, and at least 65 percent of voters from every party and region oppose impeaching Governor Paterson.”

Currently, 21 percent of voters have a favorable view of Paterson, compared to 67 percent who have an unfavorable view (35-55 percent two weeks ago).  Only 19 percent of voters think Paterson is doing an excellent or good job as Governor, compared to 80 percent who say only fair or poor (22-77 percent two weeks ago), with a jump of 10 points in the poor category (from 37 percent to now 47 percent).

“Clearly voters have turned even more negative against Governor Paterson, yet there appears to be a sense that more disruption in Albany is not the answer at this point in time,” Greenberg said.  “And if he doesn’t do it on his own, voters overwhelmingly oppose the Legislature taking on the role of impeaching the sitting Governor.”

Voters See Cuomo Investigation as Fair & Impartial, However, They Would Prefer Outside Prosecutor

“By a 57-38 percent margin, voters believe the Attorney General’s investigation will be fair and impartial, as opposed to being unduly influenced by politics,” Greenberg said.  “A majority of voters from every party and region believe that the Cuomo investigation will be fair.  On the other hand, at least two-thirds of voters of every party and region believe an independent, outside prosecutor conducting the investigation would be preferable to the Attorney General.

“Cuomo remains very favorable with voters, basically unchanged over the last two weeks.  And by a two-to-one margin, the largest ever, voters want to see Cuomo run for governor rather than for re-election,” Greenberg said.

Voters on Albany:  Dysfunctional, Embarrassing, Ready for Change, But Not Sure Anyone Can Change It

“Voters seem to be saying ‘I may be from New York, but I don’t have to tell the world.’ After the last two years, voters think that Albany has given a new meaning to the word ‘dysfunction,’ ” Greenberg said. 

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