The latest survey of New York’s registered voters from the Siena (College) Research Institute (SRI) shows growing support for raising the state’s minimum wage, division over hydrofracking, and increasing opposition to new casinos.
SRI’s polling, conducted in January and released this morning, found 83 percent of registered voters backing an increase in New York’s minimum wage. Support is up from 80 percent in August.
Opposition to a minimum wage hike also fell. It dropped to 15 percent in the latest poll, down from 17 percent in August.
The changes are within the survey’s margin of error, which is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. But support hit its highest level ever measured by SRI this January, and it has been trending up in two surveys since June of 2012.
“On increasing the minimum wage, there is overwhelming bipartisan support,” SRI pollster Steven Greenberg said in a news release.
Voters were nearly evenly split when it came to hydrofracking in regions of upstate New York. Support for allowing the natural-gas drilling procedure slipped slightly, while opposition jumped. The polling released today showed 40 percent of voters supporting hydrofracking and 44 percent opposing it. That’s a narrower split than SRI observed in December, when 42 percent of voters wanted hydrofracking and 36 percent were against it.
Another survey question found rising opposition to the state allowing “non-Indian, Las Vegas style casinos.” Although support for such casinos hasn’t changed from August — it held steady at 52 percent — opposition swelled to 43 percent. In August, 38 percent of those SRI surveyed opposed allowing the casinos.
“Support is largest in the Downstate suburbs and among independent voters,” Greenberg said. “The governor’s proposal to initially limit the building of only three casinos, all Upstate, has the support of 57 percent of voters, including a majority from every region and party, and is opposed by 40 percent.”
SRI conducted its survey between Jan. 10 and Jan. 15 by making random telephone calls to 676 registered voters in New York state.
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com
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