By ERIK KRISS
Bureau Chief
ALBANY – Gov. Cuomo’s popularity has edged up, while voters solidly back the top priorities of both Democratic and Republican state legislators as the 2012 session nears an end, a new poll has found.
Cuomo’s favorability rating ticked up two points to 70 percent while his job approval rating jumped by four points to 60 percent in the Siena College poll.
The survey was completed after reports linked the governor’s support for legalizing casinos to more than $2 million in gambling interest contributions to a pro-Cuomo group.
Meantime voters by 77-18 percent back increasing the state’s $7.25-an-hour minimum wage to $8.50 next year as proposed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan).
And a $200 million small business tax cut package pitched by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-LI) wins 70-14 percent voter support, the June 3-6 telephone survey of 807 registered voters
found.
“There is the potential for a politically popular deal to be made between Assembly Democrats and Senate Republicans in the final weeks of session,” said Siena poll spokesman Steve Greenberg – though Silver has insisted the state can’t afford tax cuts and Skelos has called a minimum wage hike a “job killer.”
The Siena survey also found strong, 61-33 percent support for legalizing marijuana for medical use – which Cuomo has said raises “obvious” issues and needs at least another year to study.
Voters were virtually split – 40-39 percent – over criminalizing synthetic marijuana.
Greenberg called Cuomo’s consistently high favorability ratings since taking office Jan. 1, 2011 “startling.”
Siena broke down the governor’s popularity and found 32 percent attributing it to Cuomo having “made state government work more effectively,” while 30 percent say he’s addressed average New Yorkers’ concerns, 14 percent credited him with keeping his promises and 11 percent said he’s improved the state’s economy.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) remained popular, with a 50-24 percent favorability rating and a lead of at least 38 points over each of her three potential Republican challengers as she runs for her first full, six-year term this year.
On the GOP side, Rep. Bob Turner of Queens leads with 16 percent, followed by Manhattan lawyer Wendy Long with 11 and Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos with three as the June 26 primary approaches.
The poll found voters by 54-37 percent would prefer a Democratic majority in the state Senate, though by 43-40 they said they’d re-elect the incumbent – and Republicans now hold a 33-29 seat edge.
Respondents continued to say New York is headed on the right track, by 53-37 percent.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.