Little Common Ground:
Anger, Frustration in New York State
A survey of registered voters in New York State for Newsday and Hofstra University
By Princeton Survey Research Associates International
May 2010
Executive Summary
New York voters are not happy. They have a low opinion of the performance of their governor and their state legislature. A substantial fraction (36%) say they are angry at the way the state government works, and nearly half (47%) describe themselves as frustrated. While electing new leaders is a route they favor, a strong majority of New York voters think state government needs major, structural reforms to make progress. They back some reform proposals with large majorities. But the voters are not yet ready to back a convention to rewrite the state constitution. These are some of the findings from a new survey of New York voters conducted this month for Newsday and Hofstra University. The joint project examines the attitudes of the voters toward their government, possible solutions and the legislative elections coming in November. The survey, designed and executed by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, is based on telephone interviews in English with 1,500 registered voters living in New York State. Interviews were conducted on both landline telephones and cell phones. The interviews were conducted from April 19-May 9, 2010. A total of 1,200 interviews were conducted statewide and then 300 additional interviews were conducted on Long Island. The sampling error margin for results based on the entire sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Pointing the Finger of Blame Nearly seven in ten New York voters (68%) are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the state generally. And the voters hold a dim view of the performance of officials in Albany. Nearly two-thirds (65%) disapprove of the job Gov. David Paterson is doing, with only 26% expressing approval. The state legislature doesn't do any better. The performance of the state Senate is given an approval rating of just 23% by the voters, with 64% disapproving. The performance of the state Assembly is about the same: 25% approve and 57% disapprove. Asked to parcel out responsibility for the state government's problems, the voters put the state legislature at the top of the list. Nearly half of the voters (45%) say the State Senate is largely responsible for the problems, with 37% labeling the State Assembly as largely responsible. Gov. Paterson is less frequently blamed: 31% say he is largely responsible.

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