December 15, 2011 - Liu's Approval Among New Yorkers Drops, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Little Love For Quinn, De Blasio, Liu For Mayor

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New York City Comptroller John Liu has a 38 - 35 percent job approval rating, down from a high of 57 - 14 percent May 11 and 50 - 23 percent October 19, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Liu's standing in a list of possible 2013 mayoral contenders is little changed, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

When New York City voters are asked, however, about whether citywide elected officials would make a good mayor, voters say:
  • 39 - 37 percent that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn would make a good mayor;
  • 33 - 22 percent that Public Advocate Bill de Blasio would not make a good mayor;
  • 46 - 25 percent that Liu would not make a good mayor.
Quinn gets a 55 - 24 percent job approval, matching her all-time high, with 41 - 18 percent for de Blasio.

"New York City Comptroller John Liu has been in the news a lot, in a bad way. All those negative stories about his fundraising have zapped his job-approval numbers," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "And voters say almost 2-1 that he would not be a good mayor.

"City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio have OK job approval ratings, but voters don't seem enchanted with the prospect of either elected official as mayor.

"When you line them all up, Speaker Quinn is number one - unless Police Commissioner Ray Kelly jumps into the ring."

If Kelly runs for mayor in 2013, he leads the pack with 24 percent of New York City voters, including 16 percent of Democrats. Other results are:
  • Quinn - 18 percent, with 21 percent of Democrats;
  • Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz - 13 percent, with 16 percent of Democrats;
  • Former City Comptroller William Thompson - 7 percent, with 10 percent of Democrats;
  • Liu - 7 percent, with 7 percent of Democrats;
  • de Blasio - 6 percent, with 6 percent of Democrats;
  • Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer - 5 percent, with 6 percent of Democrats.
With Kelly out of the race, Quinn gets 23 percent of the vote, including 25 percent of Democrats. Other results are:
  • Markowitz - 16 percent, with 18 percent of Democrats;
  • Thompson - 9 percent, with 11 percent of Democrats;
  • Liu - 9 percent, with 9 percent of Democrats;
  • de Blasio - 8 percent, with 7 percent of Democrats;
  • Stringer - 6 percent, with 7 percent of Democrats. These results are virtually unchanged from the October 19 Quinnipiac University poll.
"All the candidates, including Liu, have followers who are not ready to jump ship two years before the mayoral election," Carroll said.

President Obama's Approval

New York City voters approve 63 - 32 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing. There are gender and racial gaps as men approve 57 - 38 percent while women approve 68 - 27 percent. White voters disapprove by a narrow 50 - 46 percent while black voters provide an overwhelming 91 - 5 percent approval. Hispanic voters approve 68 - 28 percent.

"Whatever the polls in other places show, New Yorkers like President Barack Obama," Carroll said.

From December 7 - 12, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,242 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter.


4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill de Blasio is handling his job as Public Advocate? 
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Approve              41%    45%    42%    38%    39%    43%    35%    48%    44%
Disapprove           18     20     15     23     20     16     18     18     19
DK/NA                41     35     43     39     41     41     47     34     37
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill de Blasio is handling his job as Public Advocate? 
                                                             APPROVE.......
                                                             High    Low
                     Dec 15  Oct 19  Jul 27  May 11  Mar 16  Mar 16  May 21
                     2011    2011    2011    2011    2011    2011    2010
 
Approve              41      42      41      40      44      44      34
Disapprove           18      23      16      18      16      16      16
DK/NA                41      35      44      42      40      40      50
5. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christine Quinn is handling her job as City Council Speaker? 
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Approve              55%    43%    62%    48%    49%    61%    53%    60%    57%
Disapprove           24     38     18     31     29     20     28     19     23
DK/NA                21     19     20     22     22     19     19     21     20
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christine Quinn is handling her job as City Council Speaker? (*High also 55% Mar 2011) 
                                                             APPROVE.......
                                                             High    Low
                     Dec 15  Oct 19  Jul 27  May 11  Mar 16  Dec 15  Nov 25
                     2011    2011    2011    2011    2011    2011*   2008
                                                                     
Approve              55      53      54      52      55      55      40
Disapprove           24      27      22      24      25      24      29
DK/NA                21      20      23      24      20      21      31
6. Do you approve or disapprove of the way John Liu is handling his job as City Comptroller? 
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Approve              38%    36%    42%    32%    36%    39%    28%    50%    43%
Disapprove           35     42     29     42     40     31     43     27     31
DK/NA                27     22     29     25     24     29     29     22     26
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way John Liu is handling his job as City Comptroller? 
                                                             APPROVE.......
                                                             High    Low
                     Dec 15  Oct 19  Jul 27  May 11  Mar 16  May 11  Dec 15  
                     2011    2011    2011    2011    2011    2011    2011    
                                                                             
Approve              38      50      51      57      54      57      38      
Disapprove           35      23      18      14      16      14      35      
DK/NA                27      27      31      30      30      30      27
8. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President? 
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Approve              63%    19%    81%    54%    57%    68%    46%    91%    68%
Disapprove           32     77     15     40     38     27     50      5     28
DK/NA                 5      4      4      6      5      5      4      5      4
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President? 
                                                             APPROVE.......
                                                             High    Low
                     Dec 15  Oct 19  Jul 27  May 11  Mar 16  Jun 16  Oct 19  
                     2011    2011    2011    2011    2011    2009    2011    
 
Approve              63      62      67      73      70      79      62      
Disapprove           32      33      27      23      26      16      33      
DK/NA                 5       5       5       3       4       6       5
10. Now I'm going to name eight people who might run for mayor in 2013. After I read all eight names, please tell me which one you would most like to see elected mayor in 2013. Here are the choices: Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, City Comptroller John Liu, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former City Comptroller William Thompson, Publisher Tom Allon or Public Advocate Bill de Blasio? 
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Kelly                24%    50%    16%    27%    26%    23%    31%    12%    28%
Markowitz            13     14     16     10     11     15     14     22      8
Stringer              5      3      6      4      5      6      6      5      4
Liu                   7      4      7      8      6      7      3      9      5
Quinn                18      8     21     16     18     18     18     16     19
Thompson              7      4     10      5      9      6      4     15      6
Allon                 -      -      -      -      -      1      1      -      -
de Blasio             6      5      6      7      6      5      5      4     10
SOMEONE ELSE (VOL)    4      2      4      5      4      4      4      4      5
DK/NA                15     11     14     18     15     15     15     13     16
TREND: Now I'm going to name eight people who might run for mayor in 2013. After I read all eight names, please tell me which one you would most like to see elected mayor in 2013. Here are the choices: Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, City Comptroller John Liu, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former City Comptroller William Thompson, Publisher Tom Allon or Public Advocate Bill de Blasio? 
                     Dec 15  Oct 19  Jul 27
                     2011    2011    2011
 
Kelly                24      25      23
Markowitz            13      14      12 
Stringer              5       5       4 
Liu                   7      10      10 
Quinn                18      17      18 
Thompson              7       8       8 
Allon                 -       -       1 
de Blasio             6       6       6 
SOMEONE ELSE(VOL)     4       4       2 
DK/NA                15      12      16
10a. (If voting for Kelly q10) Who is your second choice? (*q10 Recalculated without Kelly using second choice question) 
                     WITHOUT KELLY..............................................
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Markowitz            16%    18%    18%    13%    14%    18%    17%    24%    12%
Stringer              6      6      7      5      6      7      8      5      5
Liu                   9     11      9      9     10      9      5     12     10
Quinn                23     15     25     22     22     24     26     19     25
Thompson              9      7     11      7     12      7      6     17      7
Allon                 1      2      1      2      1      1      2      1      2
de Blasio             8     11      7      9      8      8      8      4     12
SOMEONE ELSE (VOL)    5      5      4      7      5      6      6      4      7
DK/NA                21     25     17     24     20     21     23     14     21
TREND: (If voting for Kelly)Who is your second choice? (*q10 Recalculated without Kelly using second choice question) 
                     WITHOUT KELLY.........
                     Dec 15  Oct 19  Jul 27
                     2011    2011    2011
 
Markowitz            16      17      15
Stringer              6       7       5 
Liu                   9      11      13 
Quinn                23      22      23 
Thompson              9      10      10 
Allon                 1       1       2 
de Blasio             8       8       8 
SOMEONE ELSE(VOL)     5       5       3 
DK/NA                21      19      22
11. Do you think - Bill de Blasio would make a good Mayor or not? 
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Yes                  22%    25%    22%    24%    22%    22%    22%    18%    30%
No                   33     39     30     34     35     31     32     34     35
DK/NA                45     36     49     43     43     47     46     48     35
TREND: Do you think Bill de Blasio would make a good mayor or not? (* Intro - If Mayor Bloomberg leaves before his term expires, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio would become the Mayor...) 
                     Dec 15  Nov 23
                     2011    2010*
 
Yes                  22      27%
No                   33      29 
DK/NA                45      45
12. Do you think - Christine Quinn would make a good Mayor or not? 
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Yes                  39%    35%    42%    36%    38%    40%    39%    39%    45%
No                   37     45     32     41     41     33     38     35     36
DK/NA                24     20     26     23     21     27     23     26     20
13. Do you think - John Liu would make a good Mayor or not? 
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Yes                  25%    18%    30%    20%    27%    23%    15%    40%    27%
No                   46     56     41     51     50     43     55     34     44
DK/NA                29     26     29     28     23     33     30     26     29
14. Do you think John Liu should resign as City Comptroller or not? 
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    Blk    Hsp
 
Yes                  28%    45%    20%    33%    32%    24%    33%    23%    28%
No                   43     31     49     41     42     44     34     57     43
DK/NA                29     25     30     26     26     32     33     20     29

Demographic Summary