Poll Covered in Depth on Zogby’s Podcast, Tomorrow — January 13, 2026
John Zogby Strategies’ online poll of 844 New York likely voters in the race for Governor reveals that Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul maintains a double-digit lead over Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the likely GOP gubernatorial candidate, 53% to 39%.
Additionally, when factoring in Independent candidate Larry Sharpe, Hochul’s lead falls to 49%, with Blakeman receiving 34% and Sharpe pulling 8%, leaving 10% of voters undecided.
Within her party, Governor Hochul dominates the Democratic primary horse race against Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, 64% to 12%.
In the Republican primary horse race, 45% are undecided about whom to back. Another 34% select Blakeman, and 21% select another candidate. Showing that the newly discussed front-runner, Blakeman, still has to unify his party.
Zogby Strategies launched the poll of New York likely voters on January 6 and completed it on January 8. The poll has a margin of sampling error of +/-3.4 percentage points.
Other key highlights from the poll point to strengths for the Governor’s approval rating:
- A key indicator of satisfaction with general leadership, Democrat Hochul commands a 55% overall approval rating among New York voters vs. 37% who disapprove.
- Her approval on key issues tested, including cost of living, immigration, crime, and promoting business growth, has yielded net positive approval ratings.
However, the poll also reveals weaknesses for the current Governor.
- Drilling down on the Governor’s ratings on key issues like her handling the cost of living in New York state, while 46% of voters approve, as many as 43% disapprove of the Governor’s job handling affordability, which happens to be voters’ top issue in deciding their vote.
- Looking at the all-important independent voters, 36% approve, and 46% disapprove of Hochul’s approach to affordability in the Empire State.
- Arguably, the new Zogby Strategies poll’s most key finding is that only 38% of voters say Hochul deserves reelection, while 46% say it’s time for new leadership. Results by region show voters in both Upstate and the suburbs of New York City prefer new leadership over Hochul’s reelection. Slightly more NYC voters prefer reelection.
According to the polling firm’s Managing Director Jeremy Zogby: “While 61% of Democrats say Governor Kathy Hochul deserves reelection, and 79% of Republicans say they want new leadership, what’s key is that nearly half (45%) of independents in the state want new leadership as opposed to just 28% who want Hochul remain in Albany come November of 2026.”
Zogby added, “The results tell us that while New Yorkers today are comfortable with Kathy Hochul steering the ship amid a new playing field that includes Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and independent candidate Larry Sharpe, the all-important independent vote, plus voters Upstate and in the suburbs of New York City, do not firmly stand with the Governor. And in particular, a critical mass of independent voters turning against Hochul could make this race very interesting.”
In other findings, the top issues that voters say will drive their decision who to vote for come Election Day include inflation (cited by 36%), health and the state of healthcare in New York state (28%), followed by affordable housing (cited by 23%), and in fourth place crime and public safety (20%).
For a closer look at the data, contact Jeremy Zogby, jeremy@johnzogbystrategies.com
