Gov. Cuomo in Syracuse for CenterState CEO Lunch

Gov. Andrew Cuomo stopped in Syracuse in mid-April to speak at the CenterState CEO annual lunch at the Oncenter.

(Stephen D. Cannerelli | scannerelli@syracuse.com)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - New Yorkers are split on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's handling of gun policy, according to a poll out this morning from Quinnipiac University.

Statewide, 42 percent of voters surveyed said they approve of the Democrat's gun policy, while 41 percent said they disapprove.

And when voters were asked to name the main reason they were unhappy with Cuomo, 20 percent said gun control, the highest overall response to the open-ended question. Education scored second, with 10 percent of respondents saying it was the reason they were unhappy with the governor.

The question didn't mention by name the NY Safe Act, Cuomo's package of stricter and controversial gun control laws enacted just a month after the shootings in Newtown, Conn.

But today's poll shows some erosion of support for Cuomo's response to the violence. In March 2013 - just two months after he signed the Safe Act into law - 49 percent of those polled approved of Cuomo's gun policy, according to Quinnipiac.

A recent poll from Siena College Research Institute found 2 out of 3 voters surveyed support the Safe Act, which questioners named when asking for response.

Still, Cuomo maintains a strong lead over his Republican challenger, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.

Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed would vote for Cuomo today over Astorino - including 20 percent of all Republicans.

And 3 out of 4 surveyed say Cuomo has strong leadership qualities, according to the poll, while 3 out of 4 voters statewide don't know enough about Astorino to form an opinion of him.

But Cuomo's lead would be cut dramatically if a candidate viewed as more liberal entered the race. Twenty-two percent of voters would support a candidate more liberal than Cuomo, cutting his take to just 37 percent, the poll found.

The poll surveyed 1,129 voters from May 14 to 19. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.9 percentage points.

Voters surveyed were slightly more satisfied with the way Cuomo is handling the economy and jobs; 49 percent said the approved of the governor's policies on both. Just 41 percent said they approved of the way he's handling taxes.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli would get 50 percent of the vote against a Republican candidate, whom the poll didn't name. It's Bob Antonacci, the current Onondaga County comptroller.

Contact Teri Weaver at tweaver@syracuse.com, 315-470-2274 or on Twitter at @TeriKWeaver.