Governor Kathy Hochul has improved her numbers in the latest Siena College Research Institute statewide poll, and has pulled back out into a growing lead against potential 2026 challenger Rep. Elise Stefanik.

In their latest statewide poll released Tuesday, SCRI reports that Hochul has improved her favorability ratings slightly and for the first time this election cycle has more than 50% of voters willing to cast a ballot for her.

She’s got a 45% positive, 42% negative favorability rating, and when pitted against Stefanik in a hypothetical matchup carries 52% versus Stefanik’s 27%.

“While a 45-42% favorability rating for a Democratic governor in a state where nearly half the voters are Democrats may not sound like a major accomplishment, in the case of Gov. Hochul, it’s the first time her favorability rating has been positive since April, and it is her best favorability rating since January 2024,” Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said. “Additionally, her 54-40% job approval rating, up slightly from 53-42% in August, is the best job approval rating Hochul has gotten from voters since it was 56-40% in February 2023.”

A majority of voters agreed that Hochul does work hard for the people of this state and demonstrates honesty and integrity, while a plurality of voters agreed that she has tangible achievements, cares about the average state resident and provides decisive leadership.

Greenberg noted that Hochul does best among members of her own party, with 61% favorability and 72% job approval among Democratic voters. Republicans are more unified against her, with a 71% unfavorable rating and 73% job disapproval rating. Among independents, the largest group views her unfavorably at 48%, and independents are split 47% to 46% on job approval.

Despite her evident lead in a race where the choice is her or Stefanik, only 37% of voters say they want to see Hochul reelected, while 51% would prefer to see a different candidate. This poll did not ask respondents about Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, who has broken with Hochul and is challenging her for the Democratic nomination next year. Last time Delgado appeared in an SCRI poll was July 1, and most people were unfamiliar with him or had no opinion of him.

Stefanik’s support statewide seems to have slipped as Hochul has improved her ratings. Stefanik lost support among Republicans, from 75% last month to 68% this month, and independent support went from leaning to her to leaning towards Hochul.

“Stefanik — with a 21-34% favorability rating, down from 27-32% in August — trails among men by 11 points, while women support Hochul by 36 points, 58-22%,” Greenberg said. “Hochul leads in New York City, 41 points, the downstate suburbs, 23 points, and upstate, nine points. She also leads with white voters, 46-35%, Black voters, 73-6%, and Latino voters, 65-19%.”

Issues core to the Republican message, like crime, are also trending away from the GOP position. While a majority of New Yorkers have reported crime as their main concern for the last few years, that trend has reversed, although there is no broad consensus yet.

“A ‘glass half full’ person might say ‘61% of voters think crime in the state has gotten better or stayed the same,’ and 71% might say the same about their community. A ‘glass half empty’ person might say that ‘73% say crime in the state has stayed the same or gotten worse,’ and 79% might say that about their community,” Greenberg said. “Either way, far fewer New Yorkers now think crime has gotten worse compared to how they felt last year.”

Despite perceptions that crime has at least not gotten broadly worse, a majority of New Yorkers still report concerns about being a potential crime victim; 58% of New York City residents report it as their top concern, and about 50% of non-city residents, including Long Island and upstate, list it as a major concern.

A majority of New Yorkers are also not supportive of the keystone Republican policy bill passed this year, what President Donald Trump originally branded the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Enacting broad tax cuts and government spending reductions, cutting programs like Medicaid and still increasing the federal deficit, that bill has proven to be an anchor for Republican polling across the country. In New York, 63% of voters believe that the bill has cut essential services, especially medical benefits, and only 27% take the Republican position that the bill only cut waste, fraud and program abuse.

Among New Yorkers, Trump’s already low poll numbers have dropped even further to 34% favorable, 61% unfavorable, their lowest in two years. His job approval rating has also dropped to 37% positive, 62% negative. Overall, six in ten voters across New York disapprove of Trump’s presidency.

Trump doesn’t carry majority support on any of the specific issues raised by SCRI in their poll; the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, public health, cost of living, the New York City mayor’s race or the Epstein files and investigation. Republicans largely approve of the President’s handling of those issues, while a majority of Democrats and independents disapprove.

Among the more downballot leadership at the federal level, New Yorkers are broadly displeased with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-Brooklyn. Schumer now carries a 42% favorable, 45% unfavorable rating, a slight improvement from his worst SCRI rating ever recorded last month. Jeffries has a 34% favorable, 31% unfavorable rating, a drop from his February numbers.

This SCRI poll was conducted from Sept. 8 to 10, reaching 802 registered state voters via landline, cell phone and an online panel. The margin or error is 4.2% in either direction.