Pataki approval rating sinks to the lowest level ever, according to Marist poll (37%, -12 in 1 mo)

PoliticsNY.com ^ | May 13, 2003 | Enos Throop

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Pataki approval rating sinks to the lowest level ever, according to Marist poll

Governor George Pataki's approval rating has dropped to 37%, down from 49% a month ago, according to a poll released today by Marist College's Institute of Public Opinion. The governor is now more unpopular than at any time during his eight years in office. Pataki's approval rating has not been under 39% since September 1995.

New York voters also side with Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Brunswick) and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in the budget battle, 55% agree with the legislature's fiscal plan while 35% support the governor's anti-tax stand.

The Marist poll, conducted on May 12, surveyed 512 voters and has a margin of error of +/-4.5 points. (5/13) Click here to read more about the Marist poll (PDF, 373K).

[Timesink]

You need to download that PDF. Turns out New Yorkers are BEGGING for tax increases!

However, Marist is following the Zogby Special Sauce® formula, counting "fair" ratings as negatives.

Oh, wait, I found an HTML version...

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, May 13, 2003

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Contact:           Dr. Lee M. Miringoff

Dr. Barbara L. Carvalho

Marist College

845.575.5050

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This Marist College Institute for Public Opinion poll reports:

New York State Voters Rate Governor Pataki

<![if !supportLists]>·                 <![endif]>Approval Rating is Lowest in Eight Years:  37% of New York State?s registered voters rate the job Governor Pataki is doing in office as excellent or good.  This represents the lowest score for Governor Pataki in eight years.  59% rate the job the governor is doing as fair or poor.  His approval rating has declined since a similar poll conducted last month when he received a 49% positive rating.  The largest decline is in New York City.

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Question Wording: Would you rate the job Governor George Pataki is doing in office as excellent, good, fair, or poor?

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<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Registered Voters	Excellent/ Good	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Excellent	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Good	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Fair	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Poor	Unsure/ DK
May 2003	37%	4%	33%	34%	25%	4%
April 2003	49%	7%	42%	31%	18%	2%
December 2002	57%	12%	45%	31%	10%	2%
October 30, 2002	57%	14%	43%	33%	9%	1%
October 1, 2002	61%	14%	47%	30%	8%	1%
September 2002	60%	12%	48%	31%	7%	2%
May 2002	72%	14%	58%	23%	5%	0%
April 2002	64%	15%	49%	28%	6%	2%
December 2001	65%	15%	50%	27%	4%	4%
April 2001	53%	10%	43%	34%	8%	5%
December 2000	55%	11%	44%	30%	10%	5%
March 2000	51%	9%	42%	35%	11%	3%
September 1999	51%	10%	41%	38%	9%	2%
July 1999	55%	15%	40%	31%	11%	3%
March 1999	61%	12%	49%	28%	10%	1%
October 1998	60%	14%	46%	31%	8%	1%
September 1998	62%	16%	46%	31%	6%	1%
April 1998	59%	11%	48%	33%	7%	1%
February 1998	60%	11%	49%	32%	6%	2%
October 1997	49%	7%	42%	39%	10%	2%
March 1997	47%	6%	41%	38%	12%	3%
November 1996	47%	8%	39%	36%	14%	3%
March 1996	39%	6%	33%	40%	17%	4%
September 1995	39%	5%	34%	38%	17%	6%
March 1995	36%	8%	28%	28%	16%	20%

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<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Registered Voters	Excellent/ Good	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Excellent	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Good	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Fair	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Poor	Unsure/ DK
May 2003	37%	4%	33%	34%	25%	4%
April 2003	49%	7%	42%	31%	18%	2%
Upstate	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	42%	2%	40%	31%	23%	4%
April 2003	47%	7%	40%	36%	16%	1%
New York City	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	23%	2%	21%	33%	35%	9%
April 2003	45%	8%	37%	28%	24%	3%
Suburbs	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	44%	8%	36%	39%	17%	0%
April 2003	58%	6%	52%	28%	13%	1%
Democrats	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	24%	1%	23%	36%	33%	7%
April 2003	39%	3%	36%	37%	22%	2%
Republicans	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	53%	6%	47%	33%	12%	2%
April 2003	63%	11%	52%	27%	8%	2%
Non-enrolled	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	36%	3%	33%	34%	27%	3%
April 2003	43%	7%	36%	32%	24%	1%

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<![if !supportLists]>·                 <![endif]>Budget Takes Its Toll:  57% of New York State voters disapprove of Governor Pataki?s handling of the state budget.  29% of voters approve of the governor?s dealing with the state?s fiscal situation.

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Question Wording: Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Pataki's handling of the state budget in Albany?

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Registered Voters	Approve	Disapprove	Unsure
May 2003	29%	57%	14%
April 2003	34%	52%	14%
Upstate	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	30%	57%	13%
April 2003	29%	60%	11%
New York City	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	23%	64%	13%
April 2003	35%	48%	17%
Suburbs	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	36%	48%	16%
April 2003	42%	43%	15%
Democrats	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	15%	70%	15%
April 2003	26%	60%	14%
Republicans	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	41%	47%	12%
April 2003	45%	42%	13%
Non-enrolled	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
May 2003	35%	53%	12%
April 2003	30%	54%	16%

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The Public and the Budget

<![if !supportLists]>·                    <![endif]>Setting Priorities: Cutting programs and services is the least popular option to address the state budget deficit among New York State?s registered voters. This is statistically unchanged from the poll conducted last month.

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Question Wording: New York State is currently facing a multi-billion dollar budget deficit.  In order to reduce the deficit, do you prefer to:

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<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Registered Voters	Cut Programs and Services	Eliminate State Jobs	Increase State Taxes	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Unsure
May 2003	22%	26%	37%	15%
April 2003	20%	35%	38%	7%

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<![if !supportLists]>·                    <![endif]>Taking Sides:  55% of New York voters think the approach taken by the state Legislature to address the state budget deficit comes closer to their view than Governor Pataki?s approach.  35% side with Governor Pataki in the debate over what to do with the deficit.  10% are unsure whether the state Legislature or Governor Pataki?s approach is closer to their own.

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Question Wording: In order to reduce the state budget deficit, Governor Pataki  wants to cut programs and services and not increase state taxes that he says will hurt the state economy; the state Legislature wants to maintain programs and services and increase state taxes to avoid more local property taxes.  Which comes closer to your own position on reducing the state budget deficit: Governor Pataki's or the state Legislature's?

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<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Registered Voters	Governor Pataki?s Approach	State Legislature?s Approach	<![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]> Unsure
May 2003	35%	55%	10%

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<![if !supportLists]>·                 <![endif]>To Veto or Not to Veto:  56% of the state?s voters want Governor Pataki to sign the budget approved by the state Legislature.  26% think he should veto it.  The remaining 18% are unsure.

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Question Wording: The state Legislature has passed a budget and sent it to the governor to be signed.  Do you think Governor Pataki should sign the budget or veto it?

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Registered Voters	Sign Budget	Veto Budget	Unsure
May 2003	56%	26%	18%
Upstate	52%	29%	19%
New York City	61%	23%	16%
Suburbs	58%	25%	17%
Democrats	65%	16%	19%
Republicans	44%	37%	19%
Non-enrolled	60%	28%	12%

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Nature of the Sample: 512 New York State Registered Voters

This survey was conducted on May 12^th, 2003.  512 registered voters were interviewed by telephone in proportion to the voter registration in each county in New York State and adjusted for turnout in statewide elections. Results are statistically significant at ±4.5%.  The error margin increases for cross-tabulations.

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Sorry it looks like crap. Hope you can get the gist, but FR is programmed to intentionally ignore style sheets, which results in posts like this, and I don't have time to edit. Here's the clean version of the page from Marist's site.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Nature of the Sample: 512 New York State Registered Voters

Where did they take this sample from, NYC? This is one of the few times I agree with Pataki, high taxes repress growth and is the #1 reason so many businesses have left the state over the years.

One question the Legislature should be asking before cutting services to state residents is: how many hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on illegal aliens, you know, people that don't belong in the country?

[NYC Republican]

There are radio ads bombarding all NYers, even (especially?) on conservative radio shows, saying how Bruno and Silver (assembly and state senate leaders) have found a way to save jobs, protect education, etc etc etc, and how Pataki is only fighting for helping the rich. Sickening, misleading, lying, you name it...

With Bruno (a Rep) having no backbone and going along with the tax increases, Pataki is left alone, with no one (certainly not the liberal media) defending him.

I'm not surprised at all (about the poll #s). Pataki will veto, but it'll almost surely be over-ridden unfortunately. Pataki is a solid governor- he has to be socially moderate to survive in NY, and pragmatic on fiscal matters. He has always supported tax cuts, and will do his best to fight these increases, but he needs help, and I just don't see it forthcoming.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

With Bruno (a Rep) having no backbone and going along with the tax increases, Pataki is left alone, with no one (certainly not the liberal media) defending him.

We know what will happen now that Pataki has vetoed a large part of the budget, it will be overridden and NY will resume the usual tax and spend policies that has made it so unattractive to businesses over the years. They never learn in Albany.

And voters will keep electing democrats to the Legislature who backstab them and treat them like children. Been that way for as long as I can remember.