In Poll, Death Penalty Splits N.Y. Voters
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ALBANY – Voters in New York are just about evenly split on whether the state should reinstitute the death penalty, according to a statewide poll released yesterday.
Of those polled, 46% said the death penalty should not be restored while 42% said it should. The poll by the Siena Research Institute suggests that attitudes on the practice have changed dramatically over the past decade.
Governor Pataki beat his predecessor, Mario Cuomo, based, in part, on his strong support for the death penalty. The governor and the Legislature reinstituted the practice the following year after polls showed it had statewide support. Last year, however, the state’s highest court ruled the 10-year-old law unconstitutional. Governor Pataki and Senate Republicans have responded by pressing for a new law to meet court guidelines for constitutionality. The Assembly, meanwhile, is holding a series of hearings on the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime.
Mr. Cuomo said yesterday that he felt vindicated by the latest poll numbers.
“There were polls then that 6 or 7% of the people thought the death penalty was the biggest issue, and I only lost by a few points,” said Mr. Cuomo. “Truth is, I’m glad that, if I lost, that was one of the reasons. I always felt very strongly on that position.”
The poll of 600 voters was conducted over five days earlier this month. The same poll reported that New Yorkers are increasingly unhappy with Governor Pataki. Yesterday’s poll showed 37% of voters approve of the governor after a similar poll last month showed his rating at an all-time low of 39%.
The approval rating for the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, meanwhile, was up at 50%. Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat who is running for governor in next year’s election, received an approval rating of 48% last month.
“Twenty months is a long time, particularly in New York politics, but George Pataki has a lot of ground to make up if he intends to match Governor Rockefeller’s run of four terms,” the poll’s director, Joe Caruso, said. “Spitzer leads in every region of the state and with voters of every religion, race, and age group.”
Mr. Pataki has not said whether he will run for a fourth term.
