New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) approval rating has fallen 6 points amid reports his office concealed data relating to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes, though it remains higher than before the pandemic began.
Fifty-seven percent of New Yorkers approve of Cuomo’s performance, while 38 percent disapprove, a number that has risen 5 points in the last 10 days, according to a Morning Consult poll released Monday.
Cuomo’s critics have hit him repeatedly on his handling of nursing home outbreaks, and a Jan. 28 report issued by Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) office outlined systemic undercounting of deaths.
However, this did not translate to a substantial drop in approvals before mid-February, when The New York Post reported a Cuomo aide told lawmakers the governor’s office withheld data to prevent it from being “used against us” by the Trump administration.
The governor still has the support of 81 percent of Democrats in the poll. However, the portion of Democrats who say they strongly approve of his performance has dropped 9 points since January, to 33 percent. Forty-two percent of independents polled approve of Cuomo, compared to 49 percent who disapprove, the first time a plurality of independents have disapproved since the beginning of the pandemic.
Researchers polled 3,203 registered New York voters from Feb. 12-21. The survey has a 2-point margin of error.
Cuomo, who has said he will seek a third term as governor, has declined to directly apologize, saying only that the withholding of data created a “void” that “failed people in that moment.”
Bipartisan officials, including Reps. Antonio Delgado (D-N.Y.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) have called for an investigation into Cuomo’s office’s handling of nursing homes and their response to COVID-19. State Assemblyman Ron Kim, one of nine state Democrats to sign a letter published by the Post accusing Cuomo of obstruction of justice, has claimed the governor threatened to “destroy” him over the issue.