Poll: More believe James than Cuomo on sex harassment allegations

ALBANY — Far more New Yorkers surveyed believe Attorney General Letitia James than Andrew M. Cuomo when it comes to the sexual harassment allegations that played a key role in the former governor’s resignation, according to a poll released Tuesday.

According to the Siena College poll, 47% of New Yorkers said they agreed with James’ conclusion that Cuomo is a "serial sexual harasser" while 27% say they agreed with Cuomo’s view that James’ investigation of the harassment was a "political hit job."

Further, 25% agreed — and 56% disagreed — with Cuomo’s view that he’s been "vindicated" because no local district attorneys filed charges with any of the allegations outlined in James’ Aug. 3 report, which said the then-governor harassed multiple women.

And 80% of voters said Cuomo "did the right thing" in resigning, effective Aug. 24, three weeks after the James’ investigation was published.

The poll findings come amid a steady campaign by Cuomo, his allies and his attorney to claim the ex-governor has been "vindicated" and to paint James’ investigation as fatally flawed. A Cuomo spokesman recently called James a "serial liar" and his lawyer promised the ex-governor would file a grievance against James with a legal disciplinary committee.

But that campaign hasn’t swayed voters to Cuomo’s side, Siena found.

"New Yorkers are not ready to forgive and forget when it comes to Cuomo," said Steve Greenberg, spokesman for the Siena poll.

"By two-to-one, they view him unfavorably. By more than two-to-one, voters say both that he has committed sexual harassment against multiple women, and, despite there being no criminal charges, he has not been vindicated. … Bottom line: 80% say he made the right decision to resign."

The poll of 803 registered voters was taken Feb. 14-17, amid the Democratic state convention. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Rich Azzopardi, spokesman for Cuomo, said James’ investigation created an "avalanche of false and defamatory headlines without due process." While not addressing that only 27% said they believed Cuomo, Azzopardi seized on the finding that 47% believed James to say: "Despite all of that, a majority of New Yorkers still don’t blindly accept the AG’s empty politically motivated rhetoric and we’re not going to rest until everyone understands the facts …"

The Siena survey showed the landscape for the 2022 gubernatorial race hasn’t changed much. Among Democrats, Gov. Kathy Hochul is favored by 46% of Democrats; New York Public Advocate Jumaane Williams by 17% and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), 9%.

Siena didn’t specifically poll Republicans about a GOP primary. But it found the leading Republican contenders still have low name recognition.

About 18% of voters had a favorable rating of Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) compared with 20% unfavorable and 62% who didn’t know him or had no opinion. For former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, it was 18% favorable, 14% unfavorable, 67% no opinion. For Andrew Giuliani: 28% favorable, 47% unfavorable, 25% no opinion.