Hochul Lead Over Still Largely Unknown Blakeman Drops 7 Points to 47-34%, from 51-31%; Her Favorability & Approval Ratings Unchanged in Last Month

• Voters Strongly – In Bipartisan Fashion – Say ‘No’ to 4-Year Legislative Terms And ‘Yes’ To Making it Easier for New Yorkers to Buy Pepper Spray
• Two-Thirds of Voters – Including Majority of Reps – Say President Should Get Congressional Approval to Wage War; A Majority – But Not Dems – Support Proof of Citizenship to Register & Photo ID Every Time To Vote
• NYers Overwhelmingly Oppose Trump’s Tariffs & Taking Action Against Media/Journalists Critical of President, Reps Strongly Support Tariffs and Tepidly Support Actions Against Media

Press Release     Crosstabs

Loudonville, NY. Governor Kathy Hochul continues to lead Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, but by a narrower 13-point margin, 47-34%, down from a 20-point lead in February, 51-31%. Hochul’s favorability rating, 45-42%, is little changed from last month’s 46-42%. Similarly, her job approval rating is 52-40%, compared to 53-41% in February. Blakeman has an 18-18% favorability rating, from 21-18% last month, with 64% of voters saying they never heard of Blakeman or don’t know enough to have an opinion, according to a new Siena Poll of New York State registered voters released today.

A strong, bipartisan majority supports keeping legislative terms at two years, rather than making those terms four years, 64-25%. And a strong bipartisan majority also wants New York to remove current restrictions and make it easier for New Yorkers to buy pepper spray. By a 65-22% margin, including a majority of Republicans, voters want the President to be required to get Congressional approval to wage war. By a 54-36% margin, New Yorkers support mandating voters show proof of citizenship when they register and a photo-ID every time they vote, although a majority of Democrats disagree.

“Interestingly, Hochul’s standing with New Yorkers is essentially the same as last month – a small plurality views her favorably, and a small majority approves of the job she’s doing as governor – as is Blakeman’s, yet the race between the two has tightened a little,” Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said. “Three-quarters of Democrats continue to support Hochul, and more than three-quarters of Republicans continue to support Blakeman, but now independents favor Blakeman by seven points, after siding with Hochul by five points.”

“While Hochul maintains very narrow leads upstate and in the downstate suburbs, her lead in New York City fell from 46 points, 63-17%, last month to 29 points, 54-25%, today,” Greenberg said. “Is that movement or merely noise? Let’s see what happens next month after the budget and as the campaign unfolds.”

Voters (Ds, Rs & Is): ‘No’ to 4-Year Legislative Terms & ‘Yes’ to Making Pepper Spray Easier to Buy

“Looking at both Albany and DC, there are still some issues that bring voters of different political stripes together. At least 60% of Democrats (60%), Republicans (71%) and independent voters (64%) say New York should keep its two-year legislative terms for state senators and assemblymembers, rather than doubling that term to four years,” Greenberg said. “At least 60% of voters from downstate and upstate, men, women, Black, white and Latino voters all agree that legislative terms should remain two years.”

“A strong majority of New Yorkers also say that pepper spray should be easier to buy – currently, only available from certain pharmacies and gun stores – including 65% of independents, 62% of Republicans and 53% of Democrats,” Greenberg said. “Men, women and voters upstate and downstate agree.”

New Yorkers Want President to Get Congressional Approval on War & Photo ID to Vote Every Time

“With bipartisan support – 74% of Democrats, 61% of independents and 51% of Republicans – New Yorkers would overwhelmingly require the President to obtain Congressional approval to wage war. White voters are most supportive, 70-18%, while it is supported by 61% of Latinos and 56% of Black voters,” Greenberg said. “A clear majority of New Yorkers support voters having to show proof of citizenship when registering and photo ID when they vote. Although Democrats oppose 55-36%, 82% of Republicans and 63% of independents support.

“Republicans (62%) support continuing President Trump’s tariff policies, while 60% of New Yorkers oppose continuing those policies, including 82% of Democrats and 54% of independents,” Greenberg said. “By a similar 57-25%, voters oppose taking actions against media and journalists critical of the President or his policies. More than two-thirds of Democrats oppose, as do 59% of independents; a 40-33% plurality of Republicans support it.

“A plurality of voters, 40-33%, would end the Senate filibuster. Dems are closely divided, leaning against elimination, but pluralities of Reps, 47-30%, and independents, 41-28%, support its elimination,” Greenberg said.

Trump Ratings Largely Unmoved in March

“Trump has a 35-62% favorability rating, compared to 35-60% in February. Similarly, his job approval rating is 37-61%, from 36-61% last month,” Greenberg said. “Over the last year, Trump has been viewed favorably by between 32% and 40% of voters, while between 34% and 42% have approved of the job he’s doing. New Yorkers are pretty locked in on their view of Trump; nothing seems to move the numbers out of its narrow band.”  

Plurality Prepared to Re-elect AG James; Plurality Undecided on Re-electing Comptroller DiNapoli

“Attorney General Letitia James has a 41-30% favorability rating, and 46% of voters say they would re-elect her, while 37% want ‘someone else,’ ” Greenberg said. “Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, in that office since 2007, has a 20-15% favorability rating, with 65% saying they’ve never heard of him or don’t know enough to have an opinion. 30% of voters are prepared to re-elect him, while 29% want ‘someone else’ and 41% are undecided.”

Odds & Ends

• The Democrats’ lead on the generic congressional ballot continues, 52-35%, down a little from 53-32% last month and down net 10 points since it was 56-29% in January. Eighty-seven percent of Republicans support a Republican, 84% of Democrats support a Democrat, and independents lean Dem ever so slightly, 37-36%.
• NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is still viewed favorably by a plurality of voters statewide, 44-37%, down a little from February’s 47-35%. By a 53-30% majority, 54-29% last month, voters support the Governor and Legislature allowing the City to raise the personal income taxes of its residents earning at least $1 million.
• Support has decreased for ‘deporting immigrants illegally living in the US,’ from 49-29% in February to 44-33% today. Similarly, voters oppose the way ICE is working to arrest suspected immigrants living in the US illegally, 62-27% up from 57-30% last month.
• Currently, voters oppose building new nuclear power plants 41-35%, with opposition down a little from the last time Siena asked in April 2025, when voters opposed the building of new nuclear power plants 47-35%

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This Siena Poll was conducted March 23-26, 2026, among 804 New York State Registered Voters. Of the 804 respondents, 528 were contacted through a dual frame (landline and cell phone) mode (158 completed via text to web) and 276 respondents were drawn from a proprietary online panel (Cint). Telephone calls were conducted in English and respondent sampling was initiated by asking for the youngest person in the household. Telephone sampling was conducted via a stratified dual frame probability sample of landline and cell phone telephone numbers weighted to reflect known population patterns. The landline telephone sample and the cell phone sample was obtained from Marketing Systems Group (MSG). Interviews conducted online are excluded from the sample and final analysis if they fail any data quality attention check question. Duplicate responses are identified by their response ID and removed from the sample. Three questions were asked of online respondents, including a honey-pot question to catch bots and two questions that ask respondents to follow explicit directions. The proprietary panel also incorporates measures that safeguard against automated bot attacks, deduplication issues, fraudulent VPN usage, and suspicious IP addresses. Coding of open-ended responses was done by a single human coder. Data from collection modes was weighted to balance sample demographics to match estimates for New York State’s population using data from the Census Bureau’s 2023 U.S. American Community Survey (ACS), on age, region, race/ethnicity, education, and gender to ensure representativeness. The sample was also weighted to match current patterns of party by region registration using data from the New York State Board of Elections. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.2 percentage points including the design effects resulting from weighting. Sampling error is only one of many potential sources of error and there may be other unmeasured error in this or any other public opinion poll. The Siena Research Institute (SRI) powered by ReconMR is directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D. SRI conducts political, economic, social, and cultural research primarily in NYS. 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 crosstabs: www.Siena.edu/SRI/SNY.