NY poll: Trump drops, Hochul gets early support for ’26

ALBANY — A new poll shows that New Yorkers’ growing opposition to President Donald Trump’s performance in his first weeks in office has helped give a boost to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has an early lead against potential challengers in next year’s election.

The Siena College Research Institute poll released Monday also shows most voters statewide still oppose congestion pricing that charges a fee to enter the busiest part of Manhattan. The fee is aimed at reducing traffic congestion to improve air quality and combat global warming, while funding mass transit through the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The poll found 33% of voters statewide support congestion pricing, while 40% say it should be eliminated. But there is more support in New York City: 42% support congestion pricing compared to 35%. In the suburbs that include Long Island, just 30% of voters support congestion pricing, while 48% want the program eliminated.

But the opposition to congestion pricing that began in January may be weakening, said Steven Greenberg of the Siena Poll.

“Having one-third of voters statewide supporting the continuation of congestion pricing is the best congestion pricing has done in a Siena College poll,” Greenberg said. “Additionally, support currently trails opposition by seven points, when it was 22 points in both December and June 2024.”

The poll also shows more New Yorkers disapprove of the job Trump is doing in his second term. The poll found 42% of New Yorkers approved of the job Trump is doing compared to 55% who disapprove of his first two months in office. That’s worse than a month ago when 46% of New Yorkers approved of the job Trump was doing compared to 51% who disapproved.

Dragging down Trump’s performance rating is his talk of trying to make Canada the 51st state — 68% oppose, with 11% supportive — and buying and redeveloping the Gaza strip as part of his plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas. Fifty-eight percent of New Yorkers opposed that idea, which would displace Palestinians from the region. Just 15% approved of the proposal.

At the same time, Hochul, who has been mired in low favorability ratings, received a boost from voters in her opposition to many of Trump’s proposals.

The poll found 58% of voters approved of Hochul’s effort to protect New Yorkers’ constitutional rights, which include the right to abortion threatened under Trump, compared to 35% who disapproved of her effort. In addition, 55% percent support Hochul’s effort to protect access to quality health care threatened by the Trump administration, compared to 35% opposed.

But on both issues, the poll finds New Yorkers polarized. For example, while 77% of Democrats support Hochul’s effort to protect constitutional rights, 32% of Republicans credit her for the effort. Among voters not enrolled in a party, 45% support Hochul’s work to preserve constitutional rights, compared to 47% who oppose her effort, a statistical tie.

An early survey of Hochul’s support to win a second full term in 2026 shows 46% of Democrats support Hochul over potential rivals for the Democratic nomination. The poll found just 11% of voters at this point support Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado and 10% support Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx).

Just 46% of voters approved of Hochul’s job performance compared to 48% who disapproved, in a rating that has changed little in recent months. The poll questioned 806 registered voters March 2 through Thursday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.