Hochul hits record-high favorability in new poll

New polling shows that Gov. Kathy Hochul is starting her reelection year hot with record favorability, big leads on her opponents and high marks for her policy agenda.

Siena University released its latest poll on Tuesday, showing Hochul had a 49%-40% favorability rating among New York voters, the best she has seen since becoming governor. Though still just below a majority, her numbers were up compared to the 43% of voters who had a positive view of the governor in December. And it’s the first time Hochul has ever hit as high as 49%. 

Both Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, Hochul’s primary opponent, and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the likely GOP nominee for governor, remain largely unknown to voters across the state. A total of 62%of respondents – including 53% of Republicans surveyed – said they did not know who Blakeman was or had no opinion of him. Delgado found himself in a similar boat, with 61% of voters polled unfamiliar with the lieutenant governor. Among Democrats, 57% said they had no opinion on Delgado or didn’t know who he was.

While both opponents still have time to increase their profiles, Hochul started 2026 easily besting both Delgado and Blakeman in hypothetical matchups. She trounced Delgado among registered Democrats 64%-11%. And Hochul maintained her strong lead over Blakeman with 54% of voters backing her and 28% backing him. In the suburbs, where Blakeman might be expected to pick up more support, 50% of voters polled backed Hochul. All this, even though 51% of voters still said they’d prefer someone other than Hochul in the next election. 

Hochul also laid out a winning agenda in her State of the State and executive budget proposal this year, with a majority of voters surveyed supporting each of the six measures included in the poll. Eliminating income tax on up to $25,000 of tipped wages earned the highest marks, with 68% of voters backing the proposal. A marquee promise from President Donald Trump, Hochul’s pitch to implement it also drew strong support from Republicans. Keeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement out of designated “sensitive locations” like schools and hospitals unless they have  judicial warrants also garnered broad support, with 67% of voters polled saying they backed the measure. Increasing child care investments by $1.7 billion to help expand child care on the pathway to universality and allowing people to sue ICE agents if they violate your civil rights also earned high marks. “Certainly, focusing on these issues in an election year will not hurt Hochul with voters, nor will it hurt legislators also seeking reelection,” said Siena pollster Steve Greenberg.

Hochul’s recent decision to take a harder line to prevent cooperation with ICE and attack Blakeman for defending immigration agents may also prove a fruitful avenue for her campaign. The poll found New Yorkers overwhelmingly don’t like the federal agency, with 67% of voters surveyed holding an unfavorable opinion of it. That included 68% of independents, 71% of self-described moderates and 63% of suburbanites. Blakeman has repeatedly touted that Nassau County law enforcement has the “most comprehensive” agreement with ICE, and Hochul has ramped up her attacks of the Republican over his staunch support of the agency, especially after immigration agents killed two protesters in Minneapolis. Delgado, meanwhile, has gone after Hochul for not doing enough to defang ICE in New York and protect immigrants.

The poll also had some bad news for Blakeman if he’s planning to tie Hochul to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist politics – the New York City mayor is pretty popular statewide. Some 48% of New York state voters had a favorable opinion of the mayor versus 32% unfavorable. And he’s doing great in New York City after just a few weeks on the job, finding 68%-20% favorability among that smaller sample of voters.

Siena conducted the poll between Jan. 26-28 among a pool of 802 registered voters. It had a margin of error of 4.3%.