Governor 2026: Hochul's Mixed Numbers, Stefanik Leads Lawler & Blakeman

"A majority of New York voters may say they want Gov. Kathy Hochul to be replaced, but they’re not on board with her potential replacements," reported City & State. "A new Siena College poll found Hochul would trounce both her announced and potential primary challengers, as well as each of the three most likely GOP candidates, in head-to-head match ups. For now, US Rep. Mike Lawler performs the best out of the potential Republican candidates, though he still loses by double digits. Polled voters would back Hochul 44%-24% over Lawler, also winning a plurality of independent voters, most of whom remain undecided right now."

Republican Primary: "US Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is preparing to launch her campaign soon, still leads both Lawler and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman in a hypothetical GOP primary. She leads with 35% of Republican voters polled, well ahead of the 18% who said they would back Lawler and the 7% who would vote for Blakeman... Blakeman fared the worst against Hochul, who again would garner 44% of votes in a hypothetical election, while he would get just 19%. Blakeman, the only Jewish politician among the most likely candidates from either party, performed worse than Lawler or Stefanik with Jewish voters."

Democratic Primary: "Hochul also continues to outperform her announced and potential Democratic primary challengers. This is the first public poll since Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado officially launched his campaign for governor on June 2. Hochul still bests both Delgado and US Rep. Ritchie Torres, who has publicly weighed a primary challenge against the governor, winning a near majority of 49% among registered Democrats included in the poll. Delgado is a distant second with 12% support and Torres trails with 10%. After former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s loss in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, a gubernatorial run from Torres seems less likely."