SIENA RESEARCH INSTITUTE

SIENA COLLEGE, LOUDONVILLE, NY

www.siena.edu/sri

For Immediate Release: Monday, June 16, 2014
Contact: Steven Greenberg, 518-469-9858
PDF version; crosstabs; website: www.Siena.edu/SRI/SNY

Siena College Poll:
Cuomo Maintains Huge Lead Over Astorino 36 Points;
Cuomo Favorability Up; Astorino Remains Largely Unknown
Voters on Senate: Coalition, Yes; IDC Partner with Reps; Cuomo Stay Out
Democratic Incumbents Schneiderman & DiNapoli Have Large Early Leads
Voters Divided if They or the State Are Better/Worse Off than Four Years Ago
Loudonville, NY. Governor Andrew Cuomo holds a huge 36-point lead over Westchester County Executive Rob
Astorino, 57-21 percent. Cuomo has a better than two-to-one favorability rating, while Astorino remains unknown
to more than two-thirds of New Yorkers, according to a Siena College Poll of New York voters released today.
The other independently elected statewide office holders Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Attorney General Eric
Schneiderman, both Democrats also have large leads over little-known opponents. DiNapoli leads Onondaga
County Comptroller Bob Antonacci by 34 points and Schneiderman leads John Cahill by 25 points.

A large majority of voters, 59 percent, want to see the State Senate continue to be led by a coalition of Democrats
and Republicans after the election. By a 53-36 percent margin, voters want to see the Independent Democratic
Conference continue to partner with the Republicans rather than the Democrats, and by a 55-38 percent margin,
they want Cuomo to stay out of senate races, rather than help Democrats gain control of the Senate.

Slightly more than one-quarter of voters say they are better off today than four years ago, while a little less than
one-quarter say they are worse off and half say they are about the same. When it comes to New York, one-third
say the state is better off than it was four years ago, one-quarter say it s worse and 40 percent say the same.

There are five months till Election Day. No race is over in June. This is a snapshot of all registered voters, not
just those likely to vote in November. All true. But true too are two other facts: Astorino has a huge gap to close,
and it s hard to beat a popular incumbent when you face a two-to-one party disadvantage and you are unknown to
two-thirds of voters, including 70 percent of your own party, said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

While Cuomo leads among Democrats by 69 points, Astorino only leads among Republicans by 29 points. And
Cuomo wins among independents by 31 points, Greenberg said. Additionally, his favorability, job performance
and re-elect ratings are all the best they ve been since J anuary. Half of voters see Cuomo as a moderate and, by a
two-to-one margin, voters see him as a pragmatic, rather than partisan, Democrat.

more
Siena College Poll June 16, 2014 Page 2

Cuomo s favorability rating is 63-31 percent (up from 57-38 percent in April) and his job performance is up to
49-50 percent (from 45-54 percent). By a 57-35 percent margin, voters say they are prepared to re-elect Cuomo
compared to preferring someone else (50-41 percent in April). Astorino has an 18-12 percent favorability rating,
with 69 percent having no opinion (18-16-66 percent in April).

When it comes to which candidate voters identify with on issues, they clearly line up with Cuomo, Greenberg
said. Whether economic issues like making New York more business friendly or instituting policies to create
new jobs or issues such
as improving education,
medical marijuana or the
SAFE Act, a majority
say their position is
closer to Cuomo s.
Strong pluralities are
with Cuomo on
combating corruption
and the Dream Act. Only between 13 and 21 percent of voters say they re with Astorino on any of these issues.

Voters Want Cuomo Out of Senate Races; the IDC to Stay with Republicans; and a Continued Coalition
New York voters say they like the State Senate just the way it is right now, with a bipartisan coalition of
Republicans and Democrats in control. Only 22 percent want the Democrats in control after the November
election, including only 37 percent of Democrats. Even fewer, 16 percent, want the Republicans in control. A
strong majority, 59 percent including 56 percent of Democrats, 53 percent of Republicans and a whopping 70
percent of independents want a bipartisan coalition to continue leading the Senate, Greenberg said.

While a majority of Democrats would like to see the Independent Democratic Conference partner with the other
Democrats, 81 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of independents want to see the IDC continue to partner
with the Republicans. New York City voters are divided but strong majorities of downstate suburban and upstate
voters like the status quo, Greenberg said.

And should Cuomo, the titular head of the Democratic Party, help his party gain control of the Senate? Fifty-
seven percent of Democrats think he should but 83 percent of Republicans, two-thirds of independents, and more
than one-third of Democrats say he should stay out of Senate campaigns, Greenberg said.


more

As you consider your stance compared to the candidates position,
would you describe yourself as
Issue
Closer to Cuomo
(strongly)
On the
Fence
Closer to Astorino
(strongly)
Making NY more business friendly 58% (32%) 17% 13% (7%)
Policies to create new jobs 57% (32%) 15% 15% (7%)
Improving public education 55% (34%) 16% 15% (9%)
Medical marijuana 52% (26%) 22% 13% (8%)
The SAFE Act 50% (35%) 15% 21% (8%)
Combatting corruption 49% (30%) 21% 16% (8%)
The Dream Act 40% (23%) 22% 19% (9%)
Hydrofracking 28% (15%) 27% 14% (8%)
Siena College Poll June 16, 2014
Siena College Poll June 16, 2014 Page 3


DiNapoli & Schneiderman Not Well Known, But Have Large Leads Over More Unknown Opponents
DiNapoli has 26-12-62 percent favorability rating (29-17-54 percent in April). Currently, 38 percent say they are
prepared to re-elect him, with 28 percent preferring someone else (up from 32-35 percent). Schneiderman has a
23-16-61 percent favorability rating (27-20-53 percent in April). He has a 41-27 percent re-elect rating (up from
35-32 percent). Antonacci and Cahill are both unknown to more than three-quarters of voters.

The Comptroller and Attorney General are far from household names in New York. Each is only viewed
favorably by about one-quarter of voters, Greenberg said. However, their opponents are known to far fewer
voters. Schneiderman and DiNapoli have the built in advantages of incumbency and a two-to-one party
enrollment edge. Right now, Schneiderman leads Cahill 52-27 percent and DiNapoli leads Antonacci even bigger,
56-22 percent. Cahill and Antonacci have difficult tasks in front of them in sparsely-covered, down-ballot races.

Less than One-Third of Voters Say They or the State Are Better Off Today than Four Years Ago
Slightly more voters, 32 percent, say New York is better off today than four years ago, compared to 26 percent
who say the state is worse off. A plurality of 40 percent say things are about the same, Greenberg said. More
than twice as many Democrats say the state is better than worse, while twice as many Republicans say the state is
worse rather than better, and independents are closely divided. More downstaters say things are better rather than
worse, while by a small margin more upstaters say things are worse, not better.

When it comes to the famous Ronald Reagan question are you better off now than you were four years ago?
only 28 percent say they and their families are better off today than four years ago, with almost as many, 23
percent, saying they are worse off, and nearly half, 49 percent, saying things are about the same, Greenberg said.
A majority or plurality of voters from every region, party, ideology, gender, age, race, religion, and income level
say things are about the same.

By 11-Point Margin, New Yorkers Say State is Headed on Right Track, Not Wrong Direction
By a 50-39 percent margin, voters say New York is headed on the right track, not the wrong direction, up from
46-44 percent in April, Greenberg said. By a two-to one margin, Republicans say the state is headed in the
wrong direction, while by a two-to-one margin, Democrats say the state is on the right track. Independents agree
with Democrats 52-39 percent. New York City voters say right track by a 26-point margin and downstate
suburbanites agree by a 13-point margin. Upstaters say wrong direction by a five-point margin, however, that has
narrowed considerably from an 18-point margin in April.

###
This Siena College Poll was conducted June 8-12, 2014 by telephone calls to 835 New York State registered voters. It has an overall margin of
error of + 3.4 percentage points. Data was statistically adjusted by age, party, region and gender to ensure representativeness. Sampling was
conducted via random digit dialing to landline and cell phones weighted to reflect known population patterns. The Siena College Research
Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political, economic, social and cultural research primarily in New York State. SRI, an
independent, non-partisan research institute, subscribes to the American Association of Public Opinion Research Code of Professional Ethics
and Practices. For more information, call Steve Greenberg at (518) 469-9858. For survey cross-tabs: www.Siena.edu/SRI/SNY.

SIENA RESEARCH INSTITUTE
SIENA COLLEGE, LOUDONVILLE, NY
www.siena.edu/sri


Siena College Poll Trends June 2014


Q. 4 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion about Andrew Cuomo?

DATE FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 63 31 6
April 2014 57 38 6
March 2014 58 34 7
February 2014 60 35 5
January 2014 66 28 6
November 2013 61 32 6
October 2013 62 32 6
September 2013 64 32 4
August 2013 65 30 5
HIGHEST EVER 77 (2/11) 42 (10/06) 24 (1/06, 2/06, 9/07)
LOWEST EVER 44 (8/06, 10/06) 14 (8/09) 3 (10/20/10)

Q. 14 How would you rate the job that Andrew Cuomo is doing as Governor? Would you rate it excellent, good, fair, or poor?

DATE EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 8 41 34 16 1
April 2014 9 36 36 18 1
March 2014 7 39 35 19 1
February 2014 7 41 38 13 1
January 2014 10 44 35 11 1
November 2013 7 37 39 17 1
October 2013 8 44 34 13 1
September 2013 11 38 36 14 1
August 2013 9 43 33 13 2
HIGHEST EVER 17 (1/12) 47 (4/12, etc.) 39 (11/13) 19 (3/14) 28 (1/11)
LOWEST EVER 7 (Several) 34 (1/11) 24 (1/11) 4 (2/11, 1/11) 1 (many)

Q. 11 I know it s a ways off, but as things stand now, if Andrew Cuomo runs for re-election as Governor this year, would you vote to
re-elect him or would you prefer someone else?



DATE RE-ELECT CUOMO PREFER SOMEONE ELSE DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 57 35 8
April 2014 50 41 9
March 2014 49 41 10
February 2014 54 37 9
January 2014 57 33 10
November 2013 51 41 9
October 2013 52 38 10
September 2013 52 39 10
August 2013 55 35 9
HIGHEST EVER 62 (12/12) 41 (4/14, 3/14, 11/13, 6/13) 10 (3/14, 10/13, 9/13)
LOWEST EVER 49 (3/14) 29 (12/12) 7 (6/13, 4/13)

Q. 15 Based on what you ve seen of him as Governor so far, would you describe Andrew Cuomo as a liberal, a moderate or a
conservative?

DATE LIBERAL MODERATE CONSERVATIVE DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 34 48 10 9
April 2014 35 46 11 8
February 2014 31 52 9 7
September 2013 36 46 12 6
HIGHEST EVER 36 (9/13) 60 (3/11) 15 (4/11, 2/11) 10 (4/11, 1/11)
LOWEST EVER 21 (2/11) 46 (4/14, 3/13) 8 (7/11) 6 (9/13)

Siena College Poll Trends June 2014
Page 2

Q. 17 Which of the following two choices best describes Governor Cuomo: hes a partisan Democrat who does not work well with
Republicans, or hes a pragmatic Democrat who works well with Republicans? (Choices were rotated.)

DATE PARTISAN DEMOCRAT PRAGMATIC DEMOCRAT DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 30 58 12
April 2014 29 59 12
HIGHEST EVER 30 (6/14) 59 (4/14) 12 (6/14, 4/14)
LOWEST EVER 29 (4/14) 58 (6/14) 12 (6/14, 4/14)

Q. 5 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion about Rob Astorino?

DATE FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 18 12 69
April 2014 18 16 66
March 2014 17 19 65
February 2014 11 15 73
January 2014 14 10 76
November 2013 12 14 75
HIGHEST EVER 18 (6/14, 4/14) 19 (3/14) 76 (1/14)
LOWEST EVER 11 (2/14) 10 (1/14) 65 (3/14)

Q. 7 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion about Eric Schneiderman?

DATE FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 23 16 61
April 2014 27 20 53
February 2014 27 19 55
January 2014 27 15 58
November 2013 27 16 57
September 2013 23 18 60
August 2013 25 15 60
HIGHEST EVER 29 (10/31/10) 27 (10/31/10) 86 (11/09)
LOWEST EVER 8 (11/09) 6 (5/10, 11/09) 44 (10/31/10)

Q. 12 If Eric Schneiderman runs for re-election as Attorney General this year, would you vote to re-elect him or would you prefer
someone else?

DATE RE-ELECT SCHNEIDERMAN PREFER SOMEONE ELSE DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 41 27 33
April 2014 35 32 33
January 2014 29 33 38
HIGHEST EVER 41 (6/14) 33 (1/14) 38 (1/14)
LOWEST EVER 29 (1/14) 27 (6/14) 33 (6/14, 4/14)

Q. 9 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion about Thomas DiNapoli?

DATE FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 26 12 62
April 2014 29 17 54
February 2014 26 21 54
January 2014 28 17 55
November 2013 27 19 54
September 2013 26 20 55
August 2013 26 18 57
HIGHEST EVER 30 (11/10, 10/20/10) 36 (10/31/10) 80 (6/07)
LOWEST EVER 7 (6/07, 5/07) 10 (12/09, 11/08) 37 (10/31/10)








Siena College Poll Trends June 2014
Page 3

Q. 13 If Tom DiNapoli runs for re-election as State Comptroller this year, would you vote to re-elect him or would you prefer
someone else?

DATE RE-ELECT DINAPOLI PREFER SOMEONE ELSE DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 38 28 35
April 2014 32 35 33
January 2014 35 30 35
HIGHEST EVER 38 (6/14) 35 (4/14) 35 (6/14, 1/14)
LOWEST EVER 32 (4/14) 28 (6/14) 33 (4/14)

Q. 18 Currently, the New York State Senate is controlled by a bipartisan coalition of all the Republicans in the Senate and five
Democrats known as the Independent Democratic Caucus. In November, all 63 Senate seats will be up for election. After the
election, who would you like to see control the State Senate: only the Democrats, only the Republicans, or a coalition of
Democrats and Republicans, like we have now? (Choices were rotated.)

DATE DEMOCRATS REPUBLICANS COALITION DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 22 16 59 4
April 2014 22 16 58 4
HIGHEST EVER 22 (6/14, 4/14) 16 (6/14, 4/14) 59 (6/14) 4 (6/14, 4/14)
LOWEST EVER 22 (6/14, 4/14) 16 (6/14, 4/14) 58 (4/14) 4 (6/14, 4/14)

Q. 22 The Governor has proposed launching a pilot or test program to permit about 20 New York hospitals to provide medical
marijuana to patients being treated for serious illness. Which of the following three options best describes how you feel about
this: the Governor s test program is the way to go; New York should immediately move beyond a test program and make
medical marijuana legal, as about 20 states have already done; or medical marijuana should remain illegal in New York?
(Choices were rotated.)
GOVERNORS LEGALIZE MEDICAL KEEP MEDICAL DONT KNOW/
DATE TEST PROGRAM MARIJUANA MARIJUANA ILLEGAL NO OPINION
June 2014 37 43 18 2
April 2014 26 51 21 3
March 2014 31 47 20 3
February 2014 32 45 20 3
January 2014 28 49 21 2
HIGHEST EVER 37 (6/14) 51 (4/14) 21 (4/14, 1/14) 3 (4/14, 3/14, 2/14)
LOWEST EVER 26 (4/14) 43 (6/14) 18 (6/14) 2 (6/14, 1/14)

Q. 23 Looking beyond the issue of medical marijuana, two states Colorado and Washington have legalized and regulated
marijuana for recreational use. Do you support or oppose passing a similar law in New York to legalize and regulate marijuana
for recreational use?

DATE SUPPORT OPPOSE DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
April 2014 41 54 5
April 2014 43 52 5
March 2014 42 54 4
February 2014 43 53 4
January 2014 41 54 5
HIGHEST EVER 43 (4/14, 2/14) 54 (6/14, 3/14, 1/14) 5 (6/14, 4/14, 1/14)
LOWEST EVER 41 (6/14, 1/14) 52 (4/14) 4 (3/14, 2/14)

Q. 24 Thinking about the minimum wage in New York, do you support or oppose allowing local governments to increase the
minimum wage in their community to a higher rate than the states minimum wage?

DATE SUPPORT OPPOSE NEED MORE INFO DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 72 25 1 2
February 2014 73 24 2 1
HIGHEST EVER 73 (2/14) 25 (6/14) 2 (2/14) 2 (6/14)
LOWEST EVER 72 (6/14) 24 (2/14) 1 (6/14) 1 (2/14)




Siena College Poll Trends June 2014
Page 4

Q. 1 Is New York State on the right track, or is it headed in the wrong direction?
DATE RIGHT TRACK WRONG DIRECTION DONT KNOW/NO OPINION
June 2014 50 39 11
April 2014 46 44 10
March 2014 46 43 12
February 2014 48 40 12
January 2014 52 36 12
November 2013 46 44 10
October 2013 44 44 12
September 2013 43 46 11
August 2013 47 40 13
HIGHEST EVER 57 (1/13) 76 (10/31/10) 30 (1/07)
LOWEST EVER 14 (10/10) 26 (1/07) 7 (5/13)

































Poll Trend Notes: All surveys are of registered voters except for the polls of August and October 2012, October 2010, September
and October 2008, and September and October 2006, which are polls of likely voters.
Trends reflect questions asked at least twice since the first Siena College Poll in February 2005.

Results listed here include all times questions have been asked since August 2013.

Highest Ever and Lowest Ever is provided at the bottom of each question.

Inconsequential wording change.