LOUDONVILLE - Governor Cuomo continues to have a strong favorability rating – his best since April – and voters now give him the best job performance rating he’s had in 13 months as Governor, according to a new Siena College Research Institute poll of registered New York voters released today. Several of the Governor’s State of the State proposals are strongly supported, some are narrowly supported, and his proposal for a new convention center in Queens currently faces significant voter opposition.

Voters are nearly evenly divided on the state of race relations in New York, with 51 percent rating them as excellent (7 percent) or good (44 percent), while 47 percent call them fair (36 percent) or poor (11 percent). For the first time since November 2006, a majority of voters think New York is headed on the right track.

“After a little more than a year in office, the Governor may not be a newlywed anymore, but his honeymoon with voters continues stronger than ever. At 73-20 percent, Cuomo’s favorability rating is the best it has been since April, and his 62-37 percent job performance rating is by far the best it’s ever been,” said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg. “Cuomo’s favorability rating tops 70 percent in every region of the state and his job performance rating is at least 60 percent in every region. While it’s not surprising that he does best with Democrats, he is stronger with Republicans than with independent voters in both ratings.

“The Governor may face criticism from a variety of sources on a number of issues but it doesn’t seem to matter with voters. His staying power to date stands out even more than the big numbers,” Greenberg said. “Think back to Governor Spitzer, who had a better favorability rating than Cuomo on their respective first months in office. However, by his second January Spitzer’s favorability rating was a barely positive 44-41 percent, a far cry from Cuomo’s 73-20 percent.”