At 64 Percent, Cuomo’s Favorability Rating Marks a New Low

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo

Heading into this year’s budget negotiations, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo remains popular with New York voters, but he is no longer drawing the sky-high ratings that he enjoyed for most of his first two years in office, according to a poll released Monday by Siena College.

Sixty-four percent of voters said they had a favorable view of Mr. Cuomo, compared with 30 percent who had an unfavorable view, the poll found. That result would be enviable for most elected officials, but for Mr. Cuomo, it marks his lowest favorabilityrating as governor.

As measured by Siena pollsters, Mr. Cuomo’s standing with voters has dipped modestly but steadily for three months in a row - suggesting, at least in part, a backlash to his push to enact restrictive new gun laws following the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., in December.

“By mortal standards, his ratings are terrific,” said Steven A. Greenberg, a Siena pollster. “By Governor Cuomo’s standards, they’re the weakest they’ve been.”

Mr. Cuomo’s favorability rating declined eight percentage points from a poll released in December to the one released Monday, which was conducted from March 3 to 7.

The share of voters who said they would re-elect him in 2014 has fallen as well - to 54 percent from 62 percent in December.

“There’s no reason to hit the panic button,” Mr. Greenberg said. “This is a mini-trend. Will it reverse itself next month after we see the enactment of the budget Maybe, maybe not.”

Voters were also divided about what was motivating Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat who is seen as a possible presidential candidate in 2016. Forty-nine percent agreed that he made decisions based on what he concluded was best for New Yorkers, while 47 percent said he took actions based on what he believed was best for his political career. A majority of independent voters - to whom Mr. Cuomo has sought to appeal - said they believed he made decisions in an effort to further his political ambitions.

Still, the poll backed up Mr. Cuomo’s assertion, repeated over the past few weeks, that people outraged over the state’s new gun laws represented a vocal minority, and that most New Yorkers did not share their views.

Sixty-one percent of voters across the state said they supported the laws, which include an expanded ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as measures to keep guns away from people with mental illnesses and toughen penalties for gun crimes. Fifty-six percent of voterssaid they opposed a push by some Republican state lawmakers, gun rights groups and upstate county legislatures to repeal the gun restrictions.

The poll also found significant support for one of the most hotly debated elements of Mr. Cuomo’s legislative agenda: a proposal that would shore up abortion protections in state law. Eighty percent of voters - including 72 percent of Roman Catholics and 64 percent of voters who identify themselves as politically conservative â€" said they supported the governor’s proposal.

The poll, which was conducted by telephone of 803 voters, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.