April 19, 2000 - Mayor's Approval Drops To Lowest Ever, Quinnipiac College Poll Finds; Green Would Be OK As New Mayor, Voters Say Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's approval rating has dropped to a negative 37 - 57 percent among New York City voters, his lowest ever, according to a Quinnipiac College poll released today. The Mayor's highest ever approval rating was 74 - 23 percent in a February 11, 1998, poll by the independent Quinnipiac College. In a March 15, 2000, poll, his approval was 43 - 49 percent. Voters approve 51 - 43 percent of the Mayor's handling of crime, and give him a negative 31 - 57 percent for his handling of education. In the February, 1998, poll, he scored 83 - 14 percent on crime and 42 - 49 percent on education. If Giuliani is elected Senator and Public Advocate Mark Green succeeds him as Mayor, 9 percent of New Yorkers expect Green to do an "excellent" job as Mayor, while 34 percent expect him to do a "good" job; 29 percent expect him to do "only a fair" job and 8 percent expect him to do a "poor" job, with 20 percent undecided. Thirty-one percent of New York city voters say Green would do a better job as Mayor, while 23 percent say he would do a worse job and 30 percent say he would do about the same as Giuliani. "The bad news for Mayor Giuliani is his big drop in job approval. The somewhat better news is that 18 percent of voters are `very satisfied' and 45 percent are `somewhat satisfied' with the way things are going in the City," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac College Polling Institute. "But those numbers were higher in the past." "Voters are lukewarm about Public Advocate Mark Green as Mayor: 31 percent of New Yorkers say he'd do a better job than Giuliani, but shouldn't Green be doing better when Giuliani is at his weakest," Carroll said. "Is there a better alternative? None of the other mayoral wanna-be's has caught the voters' attention so far." Voters give the Mayor a negative 31 - 45 percent favorability rating, with 21 percent mixed and 1 percent saying they don't know enough to form an opinion. Among possible mayoral contenders, results are: Favorable Unfavorable Mixed No Opinion Green 41% 12% 15% 31% Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer 34 8 15 40 Controller Alan Hevesi 31 5 16 47 Council Speaker Peter Vallone 30 9 22 38 Rev. Floyd Flake 14 12 12 60 Race remains a dominant factor in New York City politics: White voters approve of the Mayor 57 - 36 percent, while black voters disapprove with a 6 - 91 percent rejection, and Hispanic voters disapprove 27 - 69 percent. Race relations in the City are "generally bad," according to 63 percent of voters, including 58 percent of white voters, 71 percent of black voters and 70 percent of Hispanic voters; 45 percent of all voters, including 37 percent of white voters, 57 percent of black voters and 43 percent of Hispanic voters, say race relations in the City are getting worse. "The Dorismond case has focused dissatisfaction on the Mayor: 90 percent of New Yorkers know something about the case and only 16 percent of New Yorkers approve of the Mayor's public response to this incident," Carroll said. From April 12 - 17, Quinnipiac College surveyed 816 New York City registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent. The Quinnipiac College Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as a public service and for research. For additional data -- www.quinnipiac.edu or call (203) 287-5201 1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rudolph Giuliani is handling his job as Mayor? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Approve 37% 57% 6% 27% Disapprove 57 36 91 69 DK/NA 6 7 3 4 2. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York City today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Very satisfied 18% 29% 3% 5% Smwht satisfied 45 51 29 53 Smwht dissatisfied 20 15 32 24 Very dissatisfied 17 5 36 17 DK/NA 1 1 - - 4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Mayor Giuliani is handling crime? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Approve 51% 67% 27% 41% Disapprove 43 27 67 51 DK/NA 6 6 6 8 5. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Mayor Giuliani is handling education? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Approve 31% 39% 17% 22% Disapprove 57 47 77 66 DK/NA 12 14 7 12 6. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Mayor Giuliani is handling relations between blacks and whites? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Approve 20% 31% 3% 9% Disapprove 73 60 95 78 DK/NA 7 9 2 12 7. Is your opinion of Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Favorable 34% 26% 45% 60% Unfavorable 8 12 3 6 Mixed 15 14 14 17 Hvn't hrd enough 40 46 35 17 DK/NA 2 2 3 - 8. Is your opinion of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Favorable 31% 48% 5% 17% Unfavorable 45 28 77 47 Mixed 21 22 14 34 Hvn't hrd enough 1 1 2 1 DK/NA 1 - 1 1 9. Is your opinion of City Controller Alan Hevesi favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Favorable 31% 35% 30% 25% Unfavorable 5 5 3 3 Mixed 16 18 13 10 Hvn't hrd enough 47 40 52 58 DK/NA 2 2 1 3 10. Is your opinion of Public Advocate Mark Green favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Favorable 41% 38% 50% 33% Unfavorable 12 18 2 4 Mixed 15 17 13 11 Hvn't hrd enough 31 25 33 49 DK/NA 1 1 1 2 11. Is your opinion of City Council Speaker Peter Vallone favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Favorable 30% 31% 32% 27% Unfavorable 9 11 4 7 Mixed 22 23 21 21 Hvn't hrd enough 38 33 42 44 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 12. Is your opinion of Reverend Floyd Flake favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or haven't you heard enough about him? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Favorable 14% 10% 27% 10% Unfavorable 12 15 8 7 Mixed 12 10 17 6 Hvn't hrd enough 60 64 47 75 DK/NA 2 1 2 2 13. If Rudolph Giuliani is elected to the United States Senate this year, Public Advocate Mark Green would automatically become Mayor to fill out the remainder of the term. Do you think Green would do an excellent job as Mayor, a good job, only a fair job, or a poor job as Mayor? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Excellent 9% 9% 11% 9% Good 34 35 38 29 Only fair 29 28 29 29 Poor 8 9 5 10 DK/NA 20 19 18 24 14. Do you think Green would do a better job as Mayor than Giuliani, a worse job than Giuliani, or about the same? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Better 31% 19% 53% 34% Worse 23 36 5 6 Same 30 29 28 37 DK/NA 17 17 14 22 15. Do you think race relations in New York City today are generally good or generally bad? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Good 30% 36% 21% 25% Bad 63 58 71 70 DK/NA 7 6 8 5 16. Do you think race relations in New York City are getting better, getting worse, or staying about the same? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Getting better 14% 18% 9% 10% Getting worse 45 37 57 43 Staying the same 40 44 32 48 DK/NA 1 1 1 - 17. How much of this change is due to the policies of Rudolph Giuliani - most of it, some, or none? Better Worse Most 19% 55% Some 41 34 None 33 10 DK/NA 7 2 41. How closely have you been following the case of Patrick Dorismond who was shot and killed by an undercover narcotics detective in New York City? Would you say you have been following it very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Very closely 22% 17% 33% 23% Smwht closely 44 46 46 31 Not too closely 24 28 16 26 Not at all 9 8 5 19 DK/NA 1 1 - 1 42. Do you approve or disapprove of Rudolph Giuliani's public response to this incident? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Approve 16% 25% 1% 11% Disapprove 71 59 94 72 DK/NA 13 16 5 18 43. Do you approve or disapprove of Hillary Rodham Clinton's public response to this incident? Tot Wht Blk Hisp Approve 38% 26% 59% 42% Disapprove 33 43 16 24 DK/NA 30 31 25 34
