Maurice Carroll, Director

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute

Rubenstein Associates, Inc.,

Public Relations
Pat Smith (212) 843-8026

FOR RELEASE: DECEMBER 8, 2010

NEW YORKERS HAVE LITTLE HOPE FOR FIXING ALBANY,

QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL FINDS;
LEGISLATURE WON’T COOPERATE, MOST VOTERS SAY
New York State government is “broken and needs to be fixed,” state voters say 89 – 9 percent
in a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This overwhelming consensus is consistent
among all groups and in all areas of the state.
By a 59 – 25 percent margin, New York State voters are optimistic about the next four
years with Andrew Cuomo as governor. Even Republicans are optimistic 46 – 39 percent.
But only 45 percent of voters say Cuomo will be able to fix state government, the
independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds, while 42 percent of voters
say Cuomo will fail in this effort. Democrats are confident 57 – 28 percent that Cuomo will
succeed, but pessimism rules Republicans 57 – 34 percent while independent voters are split
43 – 43 percent.
And voters say 57 – 33 percent that the New York State Legislature will not cooperate
in fixing state government. Democrats split 44 – 44 percent on whether the Legislature will
cooperate in the fix-up, while Republicans say no 63 – 25 percent and independent voters are
glum 66 – 26 percent.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is part of the problem, 57 percent of New York State
voters say, while 19 percent expect him to cooperate in fixing government. Even Democrats
say 45 – 26 percent that Silver is part of the problem.
“That’s one messed-up state government in Albany, almost everyone agrees,” said
Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
“Will our new governor, Andrew Cuomo, be able to straighten things out? We get two
readings. Most New Yorkers are generally optimistic that he will do a good job overall.”
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Quinnipiac University Poll/December 8, 2010 – page 2
“But will he be an effective Mr. Fix-it? Ask the question that way and voters are split,”
Carroll added.
“New Yorkers agree with people who follow New York politics: Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver has been the 800-pound gorilla in Albany for years. That means he’s ‘part of the
problem,’ most voters think. About one-fifth think he’ll cooperate to straighten the place out.”
New York State voters say 69 – 20 percent that an independent commission, not the State
Legislature, should draw the district lines from which members of Congress and the State
Legislature are elected. There is strong support for an independent commission across all party
and regional lines.
Elections would be more competitive if an independent commission created congressional
and legislative districts, voters say 71 – 14 percent.
“It’s far from certain that those election-time pledges to make redistricting non-partisan
will stick. But voters heavily favor the idea of having an independent commission – not
legislators – draw the political lines for themselves and for Congress,” Carroll said. “With the
state set to lose one or two members of Congress, drawing those lines could be a real blood-bath.”
By a 48 – 43 percent margin, New York State voters approve of the job President Barack
Obama is doing, his lowest approval ever in the Empire State. Democrats approve of the
president 75 – 16 percent, but he gets a negative 12 – 82 percent rating from Republicans and a
44 – 46 percent split from independent voters. President Obama gets a negative 36 – 55 percent
score from white voters, with positive scores of 93 – 3 percent from black voters and 71 – 17
percent from Hispanic voters.
From November 30 – December 6, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,646 New York State
voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and
nationwide as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed– http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow
us on Twitter.

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1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Approve 48% 12% 75% 44% 44% 51% 45%

Disapprove 43 82 16 46 49 38 48
DK/NA 9 6 9 11 7 10 7

UpSt NYC Subrbs Wht Blk His

Approve 45% 57% 38% 36% 93% 71%

Disapprove 44 34 56 55 3 17
DK/NA 10 9 7 9 4 12

TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as
President?

APPROVE......
High Low
Dec 08 Aug 31 Jul 29 Jun 22 Apr 13 Feb 19 Dec 08
2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2010

Approve 48 51 53 55 62 72 48
Disapprove 43 41 41 39 33 17 43
DK/NA 9 7 6 6 5 10 9

2. Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic about the next four years with
Andrew Cuomo as Governor?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Optimistic 59% 46% 71% 56% 57% 62% 57%

Pessimistic 25 39 14 24 30 20 29
DK/NA 16 14 14 20 13 18 13

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Optimistic 58% 60% 60%

Pessimistic 26 20 29
DK/NA 16 19 11

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3. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York State
today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very
dissatisfied?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Very satisfied 2% 4% 2% 1% 2% 2% 3%
Smwht satisfied 23 15 31 19 23 23 17
Smwht dissatisfied 31 30 37 29 29 33 29
Very dissatisfied 42 50 29 49 45 40 50
DK/NA 1 - 1 2 1 1 1

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Very satisfied 2% 2% 2%
Smwht satisfied 13 33 25
Smwht dissatisfied 27 35 33
Very dissatisfied 56 29 39
DK/NA 2 1 1

TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York State
today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very
dissatisfied?

VERY+SMWHT SAT
High Low
Dec 08 Sep 01 Jul 28 Jun 23 Apr 14 Feb 25 Jun 23
2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 1998 2010

Very satisfied 2 1 3 1 2 13 1
Smwht satisfied 23 19 20 18 20 60 18
Smwht dissatisfied 31 31 32 33 32 20 33
Very dissatisfied 42 47 45 47 46 7 47
DK/NA 1 1 - 1 1 1 1

15. Some people say that state government in New York State is broken and needs to be
fixed. Do you agree or disagree?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Agree 89% 90% 87% 90% 88% 89% 89%

Disagree 9 7 11 8 10 8 9
DK/NA 3 3 2 3 2 3 2

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Agree 93% 85% 86%

Disagree 6 11 11
DK/NA 1 4 3

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TREND: Some people say that state government in New York State is broken and needs to be
fixed. Do you agree or disagree?

Dec 08 May 17
2010 2006

Agree 89 72
Disagree 9 20
DK/NA 3 8

16. Do you think as governor Andrew Cuomo can fix New York State government or not?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Yes 45% 34% 57% 43% 42% 49% 44%

No 42 57 28 43 47 37 44
DK/NA 13 9 14 14 11 15 12

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Yes 42% 50% 45%

No 45 35 45
DK/NA 12 15 11

17. Do you think the legislature will cooperate in fixing New York State government or
not?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Yes 33% 25% 44% 26% 30% 35% 30%

No 57 63 44 66 64 51 62
DK/NA 10 12 12 8 5 15 7

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Yes 28% 38% 32%

No 64 49 58
DK/NA 8 13 10

18. The most powerful legislator is Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Do you think he is
part of the problem or will he cooperate in fixing New York State government?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Part of problem 57% 67% 45% 62% 64% 49% 60%

Will cooperate 19 14 26 16 20 19 17
DK/NA 24 19 29 23 16 32 22

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Part of problem 62% 46% 62%

Will cooperate 16 26 16
DK/NA 22 28 22

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19. Who do you think should draw the district lines by which members of the state
legislature and Congress are elected, the state legislature or a commission that has no
connection to the state legislature?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Legislature 20% 21% 24% 16% 16% 23% 15%

Commission 69 71 64 76 75 64 74
DK/NA 11 8 12 8 8 13 11

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Legislature 19% 25% 15%

Commissionn 73 60 78
DK/NA 9 15 6

TREND: Who do you think should draw the district lines by which members of the state
legislature and Congress are elected - the state legislature or a commission that has no
connection to the state legislature?

Dec 08 Dec 16 Aug 18 Jun 22

2010 2009 2009 2009

Legislature 20 16 21 22
Commission 69 73 70 66
DK/NA 11 11 9 12

20. If a commission drew the district lines from which legislators and members of
Congress are elected, would that make for more competitive elections or not?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Yes 71% 71% 72% 72% 75% 68% 74%

No 14 16 13 14 15 13 12
DK/NA 15 13 15 15 10 19 13

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Yes 67% 75% 73%

No 17 12 11
DK/NA 16 13 16

TREND: If a commission drew the district lines from which legislators and members of
Congress are elected, would that make for more competitive elections or not?

Dec 08 Dec 16 Aug 18 Jun 22

2010 2009 2009 2009

Yes 71 69 69 65
No 14 12 16 14
DK/NA 15 19 14 22

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21. Who would you like to control the state senate, the Democrats or the Republicans?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Democrats 46% 5% 85% 31% 37% 54% 42%

Republicans 35 87 5 33 40 30 38
DK/NA 19 9 10 36 23 16 20

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Democrats 37% 59% 41%

Republicans 39 24 45
DK/NA 24 17 14

TREND: Who would you like to control the state senate - the Democrats or the Republicans?

Dec 08 Feb 04 Jun 22

2010 2010 2009

Democrats 46 47 50
Republicans 35 33 30
DK/NA 19 20 20

22. There are still some state legislative elections that haven't been decided. How
concerned are you that these elections won't be decided by the time the legislature
convenes on January first; very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned, or not
concerned at all?

Union
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHolds

Very concerned 23% 24% 23% 20% 19% 26% 24%

Smwht concerned 38 45 37 35 35 40 38
Not too concerned 25 21 27 30 28 23 24
Nt at all concerned 13 9 12 14 16 9 12
DK/NA 2 1 2 1 2 2 2

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Very concerned 19% 26% 24%

Smwht concerned 38 36 39
Not too concerned 26 25 25
Nt at all concerned 15 11 10
DK/NA 1 2 1