Voters want more budget spending, but sour on Hochul

Now over a month late, the state budget is still set to be the biggest in New York history. But according to a new Siena poll, voters say  lawmakers should be spending even more money than they already are. 

About a third of registered voters polled – a plurality of 36% – said the state should allocate more than the roughly $260 billion Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed. Among Democrats, the number rises to 48% of registered voters. But independents are pretty evenly split, with a slight plurality saying the state spends the right amount on a variety of programs. 

Siena polled 806 registered voters across the state between April 27 and April 30 with a 4.2 percentage point margin of error.

As state leaders continue to hash out the spending plan, Hochul’s favorability ratings have dropped to their lowest since June 2025, with just 41% of voters polled viewing her well and 46% with an unfavorable view. The last Siena poll in March still had the governor’s favorability in the positive range, if only just. “Is it the late state budget? Is it something the Governor has said or done?” said Siena pollster Steve Greenberg in a release. “Hard to say, but either way, Hochul heads into a campaign – with an election 26 weeks from today – with her lowest favorability and job approval ratings in about a year.”

Hochul's job approval also dropped 8 percentage points since March, down to 48%-44% from 52%-40%.

But in good news for the governor, Hochul slightly grew her lead over Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman compared to March. The latest numbers have her beating the Nassau County executive 49%-33%, increasing Hochul’s margins by 3 percentage points since the last poll. Independents were split, favoring Blakeman by just 2 percentage points. That’s down from the 7 percentage points the Republican led with among independents in March. “Six months out, voters are largely in their partisan lanes,” Greenberg said.

Meanwhile, Hochul still leads among suburban voters polled, with a plurality of 43% saying they back her. She has struggled with that constituency in the past. Blakeman also remains largely unknown among the electorate, with 64% of voters saying they did not know him or had no opinion on the candidate.

A majority of voters, including a majority of Democrats, agreed the state is going in the “wrong direction” when it comes addressing the cost of living – a key part of Hochul’s affordability agenda as she heads into reelection. Two-thirds of voters – 67% – and 59% of Democrats said the state is not on the right track on the issue. Additionally, 57% of voters – a majority –  and 47% of Democrats – a plurality – said the state is moving in the wrong direction when it comes to creating more affordable housing as well.