Hochul Holds Comfortable Lead in Early Polls

Governor Kathy Hochul is dominating polling on the 2022 New York governor race, seven months away, according to Politico.

A new Data for Progress poll released on Monday revealed Hochul leads her closest rival, Attorney General Letitia James, 36%-22%, with former governor Andrew Cuomo trailing at 15%. If Cuomo was not an option, Hochul was ahead 39%-24%.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams received 9%, while Long Island Representative Tom Suozzi and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, neither of whom have announced they were running, received 6% and 5% respectively.

Both Hochul and James have favorability ratings of 60%, while Williams has 42%.

Cuomo and de Blasio have the dubious distinction of having negative favorability ratings, with 60% disapproving of the outgoing mayor and 52% disapproving of the former governor.

If the race were to be one-on-one between the two women, who would be New York’s first female elected governor, Hochul would win 46%-35% with 19% undecided. If it were between Hochul and Williams, in a rematch of the 2018 lieutenant governor’s race, Hochul would beat him 55%-to-24%.

The poll was commissioned by political consultant Neal Kwatra, who told Politico, “Kathy Hochul has been incredibly efficient and effective out of the gate at using the bully pulpit of her office. She has a very high favorability early on across the board with a ‘get stuff done/can do’ brand that is earning this upstate poll downstate plaudits.”