A new Emerson College Polling/Pix11/The Hill survey in New York finds 54% of voters support Vice President Kamala Harris, while 40% support former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Three percent support someone else, and 3% are undecided. When undecided voters are asked which candidate they lean toward, and are included in the total candidate support, Harris’ support increases to 56% and Trump’s to 42%.
“The last Emerson poll in New York was back in May, which found President Biden leading Trump 48% to 41%. Trump’s support has not moved much since May, instead the number of undecided voters has shifted from 12% to 3%, breaking in favor of Harris,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
“The May poll found independents breaking for Trump, 43% to 33%, they now break for Harris, 49% to 41%,” Kimball said.
President Biden holds a 43% job approval among New York voters, while 47% disapprove of the job he is doing in office. Ten percent are neutral. Governor Kathy Hochul has a 29% job approval, while 50% disapprove of the job she is doing in office. Twenty percent are neutral.
In the US Senate Election, 50% support incumbent Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, while 33% support Republican Mike Sapraicon. One percent support LaRouche Party Diane Sare, while 15% are undecided.
The economy is the top issue for 37% of New York voters, followed by housing affordability (15%), immigration (13%), threats to democracy (12%), and crime (11%).
A plurality of voters (45%) say there is more crime in their area than a year ago, 40% say there is about the same amount of crime, and 15% say there is less crime in their area.
Forty-five percent of voters say they are worse off financially than they were a year ago, while 39% say their finances are about the same, and 17% say they are better off financially than they were a year ago.
Voters were asked which of the following statements comes closer to their view on abortion.
- A majority (69%) think there should be a federal law restoring a nationwide right to abortion in all states, like it was under Roe v. Wade.
- 31% think it should be left to the states to decide whether abortion is legal or not.
Nearly half of New York voters (49%) say the number of migrants seeking sanctuary in the United States is a crisis. Forty percent think it is a problem but not a crisis, and 11% think it is not a problem at all.
Voters were asked if they think the United States government is spending too much, too little, or the right amount on aid to Israel in the war with Hamas. Almost half (49%) of New York voters say the US is spending too much, a third (33%) say the US is spending the right amount, and 18% say the US is spending too little.
Voters were also asked if the government is spending too much, too little, or the right amount on humanitarian relief to Palestinians in Gaza. Thirty-six percent say the US is spending too little, 33% too much, and 31% the right amount.
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling New York survey was conducted September 23-25, 2024. The sample of likely voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percentage points. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region based on 2024 likely voter modeling. Turnout modeling is based on voter registration and election data.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting cell phones via MMS-to-web text (phone list provided by Aristotle) and an online panel of voters provided by CINT. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with the exact wording, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found under Full Results. This survey was funded by Nexstar Media.
