ALBANY — President Obama and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand are cruising to big wins in New York while pro-frackers are opening a small crack over opponents, according to a new poll.
The Siena College survey released today found Obama and Gillibrand (D-NY) with huge leads and high-volume hydraulic fracturing to capture natural gas in upstate’s Marcellus Shale favored by a narrow plurality of state voters.
Obama leads former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 59-35 in New York and Gillibrand would trounce Republican challenger Wendy Long 67-24.
Meantime 42 percent of voters favor moving ahead with controversial practice of drilling into shale rock with a high-pressure water, sand and chemical mix, while 36 percent are opposed — up from 39-38 in August, the poll found.
The Oct. 22-24 telephone poll of 750 likely voters also found Gov. Cuomo maintaining his popularity, though his favorability dropped to 67-24 from 71-24 in August, with his job approval rating standing at a virtually unchanged 58-40.
Though more voters say they would re-elect their state senator in a state where Republicans control the chamber, more said they theoretically would prefer a Democratic state Senate majority, including independents by a 15-point margin.
Obama narrowly leads among white New York voters, 49-45, but the nation’s first African-American president virtually shuts out the white, Mormon Romney among New York black voters, 97-0 statistically, the poll found.
The poll also found New York independents moving toward Democrat Obama, favoring him by 25 points compared with 8 points in August.
While New York voters again said the state is moving in the right direction, they also said by 48-45 the nation is too.