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Siena poll has Cuomo over Nixon; Dem AG race up for grabs

Sep 10, 2018 12:00 pm
David Lombardo is reporting for Capitol Confidential a new Siena Research Institute poll is projecting that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will win the September 13 Democratic primary by a wide margin. In the survey released September 10, Cuomo is leading Cynthia Nixon by 41 points, 63 percent to 22 percent among likely primary voters. Cuomo's lead is the largest in Siena's gubernatorial polling this summer, which consistently found Nixon trailing by approximately 30 percentage points. “Cuomo has expanded his two-to-one lead in July and now seems poised to overwhelm Nixon in Thursday’s Democratic primary,” Siena pollster Steve Greenberg said in a statement. Greenberg said even an increased turnout among new, young and more progressive voters would not likely help her. “Cuomo has a lead of more than two-to-one, 59-28 percent, with voters under 35 years old and he has an even larger lead among self-described liberals, 65-24 percent,” he said. However, the Democratic Attorney General primary outcome is up for grabs, according to the same Siena poll, Lombardo writes. A majority of Democratic primary voters are undecided, according to the poll, and the race is made complicated because none of the candidates are well known by voters. U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney and New York City Public Advocate Letitia James are leading the pack at 25 percent and 24 percent respectively, but Zephyr Teachout is still in the mix at 18 percent. Leecia Eve polled at 3 percent. Greenberg said winning depends on two factors: "...who can bring undecided voters into their column and which campaign does a better job of turning out its supporters.” The liberal vote, which accounts for about 51 percent of the sample, is evenly split between James, Maloney and Teachout. James has a significant lead in New York City, a similar lead with voters under 35 and with Latino voters, and a commanding lead with black voters. Maloney leads Teachout upstate, with James a distant third, and he has a significant lead in the downstate suburbs. Read both stories at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.