Poll: Cuomo has 70 percent approval rating

ALBANY - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is enjoying a near record-high approval rating, according to a poll conducted soon after he used his first State of the State address to call for shrinking state government, capping property taxes, easing business taxes and toughening ethics laws.

Cuomo's favorability rating stands at 70 percent - his highest since hitting 71 percent in June 2009 when he was the incumbent attorney general and gubernatorial front-runner - according to a Siena College poll released Monday. That's also up from the 64 percent rating just after the Democrat won election in November.

"After two weeks as governor, Cuomo's honeymoon is in full swing, as he gets strong marks from voters by every measure," said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg.

The survey did not ask about specific ideas Cuomo outlined in his address, which observers said cast him as a centrist Democrat. But among those surveyed, 55 percent said he was a moderate, 25 percent a liberal and 10 percent a conservative.

The poll, conducted from Jan. 10 to Jan. 13, includes 776 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The one particular issue Siena focused on was Cuomo's decision to return 5 percent of his salary. Not surprisingly, 69 percent of voters said this was a "good example" that would help budget negotiations at time when the state is facing a $10-billion deficit. About 29 percent said Cuomo was "grandstanding."

Siena also found that while more voters still think New York is on the wrong track, pessimism has lessened. Fifty percent said the state was headed in the wrong direction while 36 percent said it was in the right direction - a month earlier it was 60 to 29.