Marist Poll: Cuomo leads by 26 points in re-election bid

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appears to be cruising toward winning a second term in next Tuesday’s election, according to a new poll issued today.

Democratic incumbent Cuomo leads his Republican challenger, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino by 56 percent to 30 percent among likely voters, according to the new NBC 4 New York/The Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll. Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, of Syracuse, received the support of 6 percent, while 7 percent were undecided.

The same poll in late September found Cuomo leading Astorino by 25 percentage points.

The new poll sample includes those who are undecided yet leaning toward a candidate, or have voted early, according to a news release from the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

Cuomo leads by wide margins in New York City (72-13 percent) and the New York City suburbs (57-37 percent), according to the poll. Upstate, Cuomo leads Astorino by 46 percent to 37 percent.

“The poll suggests Astorino hasn’t gotten any traction,” Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said in the release. “Astorino has been unable to dent Cuomo’s image while Cuomo has successfully defined his opponent.”

Education was cited by 21 percent of likely voters as the top priority for the governor of New York, according to the poll. Jobs (19 percent) and taxes (18 percent) followed closely behind as the second and third-most important issues, respectively.

The survey of 1,042 adults was conducted Oct. 26-28. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com