New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) would perform better against a generic Republican gubernatorial candidate than New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), according to a new poll.
A poll from the Siena College Research Institute released on Monday found James beating an unnamed Republican candidate with a 17 point margin. Meanwhile, the poll found Cuomo winning against a Republican candidate with a 10 point margin.
While the poll found James fairing better against a Republican, 56% of Democrats said they want Cuomo to win a fourth term, while 33% said the opposite.
As Politico notes, James has not indicated whether she is considering running for governor in 2022.
Cuomo is facing several allegations of sexual harassment, and James’ office has launched an investigation into the matter.
Cuomo has denied any acting inappropriately.
“I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable. It was unintentional, and I truly and deeply apologize for it,” he said.
His administration also reportedly facing a federal investigation into its handling of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, as IJR reported.
The controversy around coronavirus deaths in nursing homes exploded earlier this year after James released a report that found Cuomo’s administration undercounted coronavirus deaths in nursing homes by as much as 50%.
New York Assemblyman Ron Kim (D) called for Cuomo to be impeached for his handling of nursing home deaths.
Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa told state lawmakers that state officials withheld data on nursing home deaths after they received a request from former President Donald Trump’s administration for that information.
“Because then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, what we start saying, was going to be used against us while we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation,” she said.
A spokesperson for the governor defended the decision to withhold data on nursing home deaths from state lawmakers, “We explained that the Trump administration was in the midst of a politically motivated effort to blame democratic states for COVID deaths and that we were cooperating with Federal document productions and that was the priority and now that it is over we can address the state legislature.”
