Andrew Cuomo's Job Approval Dips amid Nursing Home Scandal

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) job approval rating has taken a hit as he battles mounting criticism over his directive for nursing homes to accept recovering coronavirus patients, according to a new poll.

The Siena College Research Institute poll of more than 800 New York voters showed the Democrat governor’s overall job approval fell to 51-47, down from 56-42 last month. Questioned on how Cuomo made information on nursing home deaths public, 39 percent said they approve, while the majority, 55 percent, disapproved.

“When it comes to making public the data about the deaths of nursing home patients – the issue on which voters most harshly grade Cuomo – he only gets approval from 54 percent of Democrats, while 81 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of independents give him negative grades,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

“New York City voters are closely divided but downstate suburbanites and upstaters give Cuomo negative grades,” Greenberg added.

While his job approval rating has slipped, Cuomo’s favorability rating has remained steady at 56-39, down one point from last month’s 57-39 rating.

The poll also revealed that New York voters are split on whether to reelect Cuomo for another term. While 46 percent of voters say they are prepared to reelect Cuomo if he runs in 2022, 45 percent stated they would “prefer someone else,” a slight shift from 48-42 percent in November.

Regarding how he handled the pandemic overall, 61 percent of those that took part in the survey said they approved, and 34 percent stated they did not approve.

“Voters – especially Democrats – continue to give Cuomo strong marks for his overall handling of the pandemic,” Greenberg stated. “He gets a positive rating from 83 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of independents. However, 72 percent of Republicans give him a negative grade.”

Those who took part in the survey are also optimistic about coronavirus vaccinations, a process that most who were surveyed are not pleased with. Asked about Cuomo’s management of vaccine rollouts, 49 percent gave Cuomo a fair/poor rating while 48 percent gave him an excellent/good rating. For his mostly uncontrolled efforts in the vaccination of residents in the state, Cuomo received approval from 68 percent of Democrats and only 18 percent of Republicans.

“While Democrats are positive about Cuomo’s handling of the vaccine rollout and his plans to reopen New York, Republicans are overwhelming negative, and independents are negative as well,” Greenberg said.

The poll also revealed that New Yorkers support President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, 75-18 percent.

Yesterday, Cuomo addressed the fallout from his state’s controversial March 25 directive and the recent revelation that his administration hid the true fatality figures out of fear of a federal investigation, insisting that the virus did not enter nursing homes through the department’s controversial guidance.

The Siena College poll was conducted February 7-11 among 804 New York registered voters, with 504 voters contacted through a dual frame (landline and cell phone) mode and 300 responses drawn from a proprietary online panel (Lucid) of New Yorkers. The margin of error is +/- 4.3 percentage points.

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