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A majority of voters believe disgraced governor Andrew Cuomo is a serial sexual harasser and reject his claim of vindication after prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges, a new poll released Tuesday found.
A total of 58 percent of voters think Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women during his tenure in Albany, compared to just 21 percent of respondents who believed he was innocent. The remaining voters surveyed had no opinion, according to the Siena College survey
The voters were given the following prompt:
“Cuomo presently faces no criminal charges for sexual harassment. He says that he ́s been vindicated and that the whole investigation was a political hit job. Local prosecutors who declined to bring criminal charges against Cuomo said that while they believed the credibility of the women, there was not enough evidence to prosecute.”
They were then asked: “Do you think Cuomo has or has not been vindicated?”
The verdict: 56 percent of voters said Cuomo has not been vindicated while 25 percent said he has — a better than two-to-one margin against Cuomo.
Cuomo, meanwhile, is losing his public relations battle with state Attorney General Letitia James, who issued the devastating report in August that concluded he had harassed or mistreated 11 women — forcing his resignation.
Voters were asked: “Who do you believe more? Andrew Cuomo, who says the
investigation against him was a political hit-job? Attorney General Letitia James who says Cuomo is a serial sexual harasser?”
A total of 47 percent of respondents sided with James and only 27 percent with Cuomo, with the rest saying neither or having no opinion.
Cuomo remains deeply unpopular with 60 percent of voters having an unfavorable view of him and 33 percent having a favorable view.
The bottom line: 80 percent of voters said Cuomo made the right decision to resign last August based on what they know today. Only 13 percent of respondents said he shouldn’t have resigned, with the rest undecided.
“New Yorkers are not ready to forgive and forget when it comes to Cuomo,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
“By two-to-one, they view him unfavorably. By more than two-to-one, voters say both that he has committed sexual harassment against multiple women, and, despite there being no criminal charges, he has not been vindicated.
He continued, “By a 20-point margin, they believe James’ description of Cuomo as a ‘serial sexual harasser’ more than they believe Cuomo’s description of a ‘political hit job’ against him.”
There are other open investigations against Cuomo, including whether he broke the law by using government workers and other taxpayer resources to help seal his $5.1 million book deal.
The self-congratulatory tome details his response to the coronavirus pandemic and accusations that he covered up COVID-19- related nursing home deaths. He has denied wrongdoing.
The Siena College Poll was conducted from February 14-17 among 803 registered voters with 503 voters contacted by mobile or landline phones and 300 responses via an online panel. It has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
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