ALBANY – Four of every five New York voters expect more state lawmakers to get arrested in the near future, according to a new poll.
And more than nine of every 10 say corruption in the state legislature is a serious problem, the Siena College poll released today found.
In the wake of this month’s high profile busts of two state lawmakers on bribery charges, about a third of voters believe their own lawmaker could be among the next to face corruption charges, the survey revealed.
More than a quarter of poll respondents think federal prosecutors (29 percent) and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (27 percent) are the best bets to drain the swamp, ahead of the 18 percent who said Gov. Cuomo’s the man for the job.
Only one in 10 think district attorneys or the legislature itself should take the lead.
By a staggering 82-17 percent, voters now favor term limits for lawmakers, the April 14-18 telephone survey of 811 registered voters found.
More than half (54-42) would even go along with a pay raise for legislators in exchange for their jobs becoming full-time with a ban on outside jobs that could pose corrupting conflicts.
“Clearly, the recent arrests have eroded confidence in the legislature,” said Siena poll spokesman Steven Greenberg.
More than half of poll respondents say they’re “distrustful” and “cynical” of New York politics.
But they’re virtually evenly split on whether most lawmakers are “honest and law-abiding” (50 percent) or “cannot be trusted” (47 percent).
They’re also evenly divided on whether focusing on law enforcement or the electoral process is the better bromide for preventing corruption.
Cuomo’s personal favorability rating dropped slightly, to 62-33 from last month’s 64-30, as did his job approval marks, slipping to 52-47 from 54-44.
New Yorkers’ confidence in the state’s direction also dipped below the 50 percent mark, to 48-42 from last month’s 50-42.
Still, 62 percent expressed confidence that Cuomo will win anti-corruption reforms.
Voters continue to narrowly oppose fracking for natural gas upstate (45-40) and slightly favor favor legalizing casino gambling (49-44).
Meanwhile three quarters of New Yorkers don’t know or have no opinion of the man who brought the bribery cases, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.