Gov. Kathy Hochul holds an 11-point lead over Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, but is losing ground among independents with just four weeks to go in the race for governor, a newly released Marist poll shows.
The survey sampled 1,361 registered voters across New York state and found the Democratic governor ahead of her Republican rival 53% to 42%.
But Blakeman had a strong showing among independent voters, carrying 49% in the survey compared to 42% who backed Hochul. And the two are in a dead heat in the the Empire State’s suburbs, split at 48%.
The governor crushed Blakeman in New York City by a 69% to 24% margin, the poll found.
The survey mirrors a Marist 2022 poll that had Hochul with a 10-point lead over her Republican opponent, then-Rep. Lee Zeldin.
Hochul wound up beating Zeldin by 6 points.
Blakeman blasted the poll as “woke” while speaking to reporters at a Queens event.
“The phony Marist poll by the woke university that always favors Democrats over Republicans,” he charged, before predicting he’ll get “record turnout” in New York City. “I’ve been in the South Bronx, Brooklyn, here in Queens many times just this week.”
Meanwhile, Hochul dismissed questions over whether she was concerned about the race.
“Being ahead by half a point or 1% is concerning. Double digits means something,” she told reporters Wednesday. “So, I’ll just let you all analyze that.”
A Siena University poll last month showed her with a 9% lead over Blakeman, while a Quinnipiac University poll, which was released the same day, had Hochul with a commanding 19% margin.
The Marist poll also found respondents favoring national Democrats over Republicans ahead of the pivotal midterms, 55% to 42%.
Asked how much President Trump influences their vote for congress in next month’s election, 33% indicated he’s not much of a factor either way, while 44% said they’re casting their vote “against” Trump.
Almost half – 49% – of independents surveyed said Trump is not much of a factor.
The survey, conducted between Oct. 1 and Oct. 4, has a margin of error of 3.6%.
