Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds a 36-point lead over challenger Rob Astorino in the race for governor, according to Siena College”™s latest poll released Monday.
Astorino, a Republican who is Westchester”™s county executive, is struggling with name recognition across the state with less than two-thirds of New Yorkers knowing who he is, according to the poll.
Steven Greenberg, a Siena College pollster, said in a statement the results were bad news for Astorino even though it was early in election season and the poll results reflected the thoughts of all registered voters ”“ not necessarily those that are likely to vote in November.
“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 are unknown to two-thirds of voters, including 70 percent of your own party,” Greenberg said.
Despite Cuomo leading over Astorino, 57 percent to 21 percent, only 28 percent of those polled said they were better off today than four years ago. In addition, 23 percent said they were worse off than four years ago and 49 percent said they were about the same.
