Clinton keeps big lead on Trump in NY
ALBANY – Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton maintained large leads in their respective primaries in New York, but Clinton had a sizable advantage against Trump in a general election matchup in their home state, a poll Monday found.
Trump expanded his lead in a Republican primary in New York with a 27 percentage-point lead over John Kasich and Marco Rubio, the Siena College poll said.
On the Democratic side, Clinton had a 21-percentage point lead over Bernie Sanders, 55 percent to 34 percent, the same as it was a month ago, the poll found.
New York's primaries are April 19.
In the general election, Clinton was leading Trump 57 percent to 34 percent, essentially the same lead that Sanders held in a hypothetical matchup against Trump. Clinton held a slightly smaller lead in a potential race against Rubio, Siena said.
Kasich had the best chance against Clinton or Sanders, Siena College Poll spokesman Steven Greenberg said.
“Kasich has made the most headway in general election matchups against the Democrats,” Greenberg said. “Sanders leads Kasich by 19 points, down from 30 points last month, and he comes within seven points of Clinton, 49 percent to 42 percent, down from 26 points in February.”
Trump, the Manhattan billionaire, has talked about putting the heavily blue New York into play in a general election, saying last month: "Upstate New York, I’m like the most popular person that’s ever lived, virtually."
The Siena poll showed Trump leading Clinton only in the New York City suburbs, by five percentage points.
Trump contemplated a run for governor in 2014, leading him to visit parts of upstate after recruitment efforts by some conservative Republicans from the region. But he ultimately choose not to run.
In the Siena poll, Trump was viewed favorably by 54 percent of Republicans, but unfavorably by 67 percent of all New York voters. He was most liked by voters in the New York City suburbs, but disliked the most in New York City, which has an overwhelming Democratic enrollment edge.
Clinton, who lives in Chappaqua, Westchester County, had an equal percent of New Yorkers who gave her either a favorable or unfavorable rating: 48 percent to 48 percent.
The former New York senator, first lady and secretary of state was most well liked in the city, but disliked the most in the suburbs. In upstate, her approval rating was 46 percent favorable and 49 percent unfavorable.
The Siena College Poll was conducted Feb. 28 to March 3 to 800 New York registered voters. The margin of error was 4.1 percentage points, but it was about 6 percentage point for the primary poll questions.