June 23, 2010 - New York State Is Dysfunctional, 83% Of Voters Say, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Candidates Should Pledge To Fix District Lines Word format New York State government is dysfunctional, 83 percent of voters say, the highest number ever measured in the state, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. A total of 80 percent of New York State voters are "somewhat dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with the way things are going in the state, also the highest dissatisfaction ever in New York, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. New York State voters say 59 - 21 percent that all candidates for state office should sign a pledge that they will support the creation of an independent group to draw legislative district lines. There is no difference in support among Democrats, Republicans or independent voters. Nineteen percent of voters would vote against a candidate who refuses to sign the pledge on that issue alone. There is little difference in support among political or regional groups. New York State voters disapprove 76 - 16 percent of the way the State Legislature is doing its job, the highest disapproval ever recorded for this group. To clean house in Albany, all New York State senators, even their own local senator, should be voted out of office this November, voters say 51 - 36 percent. Voters say 50 - 34 percent that State Assembly members, even their own representative, should go, too. "New Yorkers are fed up with Albany. The resentment is bigger than we've ever measured. Just about half think that the whole Legislature should be voted out of office - even their own state senator and Assembly member," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "That move led by former Mayor Ed Koch to force candidates to pledge support for drawing of political district lines by an independent group - not by the State Legislature - wins solid support. As a matter of fact, one in five New Yorkers say that they'd vote on that issue alone against any candidate who won't sign the pledge," Carroll added. New York State voters say 62 - 19 percent that if an independent group were to draw up the district lines from which members of the U.S. Congress and the State Legislature are elected, that would make for more competitive elections. Gov. David Paterson is most to blame for the dysfunction in state government, 24 percent of New York State voters say, while 27 percent blame the Democrats in the State Legislature and 19 percent blame the Republicans. Among independent voters, 27 percent blame the Democrats, while 20 percent blame Paterson and 17 percent blame the Republicans. "By now, the adjective 'dysfunctional' seems to apply automatically to the Legislature. Who's to blame? Surprise! Democrats blame the Republicans and Republicans blame the Democrats. But independent voters put more of the blame on Gov. Paterson and the Democrats," Carroll said. New York State's late budget is a "very serious" problem, 80 percent of voters say, while 15 percent say "somewhat serious." Everyone is equally to blame for the late budget, 34 percent say, while 22 percent blame the Governor; 18 percent blame the Democrats and 17 percent blame the Republicans. From June 15 - 20, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,592 New York State registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and nationwide 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. 17. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Approve 16% 9% 28% 7% 17% 15% 9% 44% Disapprove 76 85 65 87 78 75 85 47 DK/NA 7 7 7 6 5 9 7 9 UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Approve 26% 9% 12% 22% 15% Disapprove 61 87 82 69 79 DK/NA 13 4 6 10 6 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? (*Low app also 16% Feb 2010) APPROVE...... DIS... High Low High Jun 23 Apr 14 Feb 3 Dec 16 Apr 4 Jun 23 Jun 23 2010 2010 2010 2009 2007 2010* 2010 Approve 16 21 16 17 34 16 16 Disapprove 76 68 71 72 43 76 76 DK/NA 7 10 13 11 23 7 7 19. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Sheldon Silver is handling his job as State Assembly Speaker? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Approve 26% 20% 35% 21% 24% 28% 21% 46% Disapprove 39 52 26 50 48 33 47 17 DK/NA 34 27 39 30 29 39 32 36 UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Approve 24% 20% 21% 35% 22% Disapprove 35 49 46 32 39 DK/NA 41 31 32 33 39 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Sheldon Silver is handling his job as State Assembly Speaker? APPROVE....... High Low Jun 23 Apr 14 Apr 6 Feb 17 Jan 15 Dec 24 Apr 14 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2008 2010 Approve 26 25 28 30 31 38 25 Disapprove 39 40 36 33 34 34 40 DK/NA 34 35 36 37 34 38 35 20. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York State today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Very satisfied 1% 1% 2% 2% 1% 2% 1% 2% Smwht satisfied 18 9 29 13 19 16 13 34 Smwht dissatisfied 33 29 37 28 28 37 31 42 Very dissatisfied 47 61 31 57 50 44 54 23 DK/NA 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Very satisfied 5% 1% 2% 1% 2% Smwht satisfied 16 8 10 28 16 Smwht dissatisfied 31 27 28 37 36 Very dissatisfied 48 64 61 34 44 DK/NA - - - 1 2 TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York State today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? VERY+SMWHT SAT High Low Jun 23 Apr 14 Feb 3 Dec 16 Oct 21 Feb 25 Jun 23 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 1998 2010 Very satisfied 1 2 2 2 2 13 1 Smwht satisfied 18 20 24 22 28 60 18 Smwht dissatisfied 33 32 35 37 37 20 33 Very dissatisfied 47 46 39 38 31 7 47 DK/NA 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 25. New York State has not had a budget since April 1, the start of the fiscal year. Do you think that the state's failure to pass a budget is a very serious problem, a somewhat serious problem, a not very serious problem, or not a problem at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Very serious 80% 79% 78% 83% 79% 81% 79% 86% Smwht serious 15 18 16 14 15 16 17 10 Not very serious 3 1 4 2 4 2 2 4 Not a problem at all 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 DK/NA 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 - UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Very serious 76% 87% 85% 75% 78% Smwht serious 19 10 12 19 17 Not very serious 3 2 2 4 4 Not a problem at all 2 1 1 1 1 DK/NA - - - 1 1 TREND: New York State has not had a budget since April 1, the start of the fiscal year. Do you think that the state's failure to pass a budget is a very serious problem, somewhat serious, not very serious, or not a problem at all? Jun 23 Jun 16 Apr 15 Jun 28 2010 2004 2004 2001 Very serious prob 80 55 43 51 Smwht serious 15 34 39 32 Not very serious 3 7 11 11 Not a prob at all 1 3 5 5 DK/NA 1 2 2 2 26. Who do you think is most to blame for the state's failure to pass a budget - Governor Paterson, the Republicans in the state legislature, or the Democrats in the state legislature? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Gov Paterson 22% 21% 26% 18% 17% 26% 19% 34% Reps in state leg 17 4 27 13 19 15 13 30 Dems in state leg 18 40 6 21 23 15 23 5 ALL EQUALLY(VOL) 34 26 31 40 35 33 35 25 DK/NA 9 8 9 9 7 11 9 6 UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Gov Paterson 28% 21% 22% 20% 24% Reps in state leg 20 14 15 21 13 Dems in state leg 8 21 19 18 18 ALL EQUALLY(VOL) 35 35 35 32 36 DK/NA 9 9 9 9 9 27. As you may know, the state legislature draws the district lines by which members of the state legislature and Congress are elected. A reform group has asked all candidates for New York State offices to sign a pledge that they will support creation of an independent group to draw legislative district lines. Do you think candidates should or should not sign this pledge? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Shld sign 59% 59% 60% 59% 65% 54% 59% 69% Shld not sign 21 20 22 22 19 22 20 19 DK/NA 20 22 18 19 16 24 22 11 UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Shld sign 50% 58% 57% 63% 55% Shld not sign 19 23 22 18 23 DK/NA 30 19 21 19 21 28. Would you vote against a candidate who refuses to sign this pledge solely on this issue? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes 19% 15% 24% 17% 22% 17% 16% 32% No 68 75 65 70 68 68 72 59 DK/NA 13 10 11 13 10 15 12 9 UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Yes 21% 18% 19% 24% 13% No 68 71 70 63 73 DK/NA 11 11 11 13 14 29. If an independent group drew the district lines from which legislators and members of Congress are elected, would that make for more competitive elections or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes 62% 54% 65% 65% 67% 57% 61% 68% No 19 24 18 18 16 22 18 23 DK/NA 19 21 16 17 16 21 21 9 UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Yes 57% 61% 61% 63% 62% No 26 21 22 19 15 DK/NA 17 18 18 18 23 30. Which comes closer to your view about your State Senator - A) There are a lot of problems in Albany but your State Senator has done a good job and deserves to be reelected or B) Almost everyone in the State Senate should be thrown out including your State Senator? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Deserves reelection 36% 26% 45% 32% 31% 40% 37% 36% Shld be thrown out 51 65 40 57 57 47 52 45 DK/NA 13 8 15 11 12 13 11 19 UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Deserves reelection 36% 34% 34% 37% 36% Shld be thrown out 49 54 53 49 53 DK/NA 15 13 13 13 11 TREND: Which comes closer to your view about your State Senator - there are a lot of problems in Albany but your State Senator has done a good job and deserves to be reelected or almost everyone in the State Senate should be thrown out including your State Senator? Jun 23 Apr 14 Dec 16 Aug 18 2010 2010 2009 2009 Deserves reelection 36 39 41 40 Shld be thrown out 51 50 46 49 DK/NA 13 11 13 11 31. Which comes closer to your view about your State Assembly member - A) There are a lot of problems in Albany but your State Assembly member has done a good job and deserves to be reelected or B) Almost everyone in the State Assembly should be thrown out including your State Assembly member? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Deserves reelection 34% 27% 42% 29% 30% 38% 32% 47% Shld be thrown out 50 62 40 56 56 46 54 38 DK/NA 16 11 18 15 14 17 14 15 UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Deserves reelection 37% 33% 34% 37% 30% Shld be thrown out 48 53 52 48 53 DK/NA 15 14 14 16 18 TREND: Which comes closer to your view about your State Assembly member - there are a lot of problems in Albany but your State Assembly member has done a good job and deserves to be reelected or almost everyone in the State Assembly should be thrown out including your State Assembly member? Jun 23 Apr 14 2010 2010 Deserves reelection 34 35 Shld be thrown out 50 48 DK/NA 16 17 32. Some people have said that New York State government is dysfunctional. Do you agree or disagree? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Agree 83% 86% 77% 88% 85% 81% 87% 76% Disagree 14 12 19 11 12 15 11 22 DK/NA 3 2 4 1 2 4 3 2 UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Agree 86% 89% 89% 75% 87% Disagree 10 8 9 23 9 DK/NA 3 3 3 3 4 TREND: Some people have said that New York state government is dysfunctional. Do you agree or disagree? Jun 23 Dec 16 Aug 18 Jun 22 Apr 7 2010 2009 2009 2009 2009 Agree 83 76 77 78 71 Disagree 14 19 19 18 23 DK/NA 3 5 3 4 6 33. (If agree in q32) Who do you think is most to blame - Governor Paterson or the Republicans in the state legislature or the Democrats in the state legislature? AGREE Q32........................................... Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Gov Paterson 24% 23% 27% 20% 20% 26% 22% 28% Reps in state leg 19 4 32 17 20 19 15 30 Dems in state leg 27 52 11 27 32 22 31 10 DK/NA 31 21 29 36 28 33 31 32 UpState..... UpState Urban Othr Total NYC Sub Gov Paterson 34% 25% 26% 19% 25% Reps in state leg 15 16 16 26 17 Dems in state leg 19 29 27 25 28 DK/NA 33 30 31 31 30 TREND: (If agree) Who do you think is most to blame - Governor Paterson, the Republicans in the state legislature or the Democrats in the state legislature? AGREE Q32.................... Jun 23 Dec 16 Jun 22 Apr 7 2010 2009 2009 2009 Paterson 24 17 23 21 Republicans in leg 19 21 25 21 Democrats in leg 27 28 21 25 DK/NA 31 34 31 33
