The Siena College Research Institute released information on how New Yorkers feel about Governor Spitzer, and the news is bad. Thirteen months after Spitzer was elected overwhelmingly to office, he now has a rating of 36% favorable/51% unfavorable (sliding from 64-22 in June, 41-46 in November) and a job performance rating of 27% positive=70 negative (55-37 in June, 33-64 in November). Not only that, but Siena Poll spokesman Steven Greenberg said, "A majority of voters,......

After heated debate and almost universal dislike from both parties and many NY residents for his controversial driver's license plan, Governor Spitzer has decided to shelve the idea. He is expected to announce the news today during a meeting with the Democratic congressional delegation, whose recently elected members have criticized the Governor for putting their positions in jeopardy with voters. The Governor spoke to the NY Times, "You have perhaps seen me struggle with it......

Gov. Spitzer made an abrupt shift from his stance of pushing forward with his plan to issue drivers license to illegal immigrants. He will be appearing with Dept. of Homeland Security officials in DC today to announce a compromise that involves two tiers of drivers licenses. The more secure version will comply with new federal Real ID standards that will be fully instituted in coming years. By 2013, US residents will be required to produce......

It's either an unfortunate choice of words or a pointed dig. When asked about a Siena College poll that showed Mayor Bloomberg would win a gubernatorial match-up against Governor Spitzer 50-37, Bloomberg gave his thoughts on the Steamroller's difficulties: "I think that Eliot Spitzer will turn out to be a very good governor of this state. He's had his teething problems as everybody does when they come into office." We knew there was a reason......

Right now, we bet that more than a few people are inspired to be a fake lawyer for Halloween - you just need a briefcase, a legal pad and chutzpah. The NY Times reports that Brian T. Valery, a paralegal who posed as a lawyer for a few years at law firm Anderson Kill, faces arraignment for impersonating a lawyer and perjury this Wednesday in Connecticut. Valery had been working at Anderson Kill as a......

The bottom line from the latest Quinnipiac poll? Mayor Bloomberg is enjoying some of the the highest approval numbers of his mayorship, but New Yorkers don't want him in Washington. Mayor Bloomberg has an approval rating of 70% - a far cry from his numbers in November 2003, which had two-thirds of New Yorkers saying they wanted a different mayor. But as much as they like him now, only 35% would vote for him if......

Have you seen Alan Hevesi's new ad where he's sitting against a somber blackground, apologizing for the "stupid mistake" he made to have a state driver chauffeur his wife? He humbly asks for voters to consider his 35 years of experience and says he'll fight for New Yorkers. And yet it's hard to listen to it and not be disappointed and upset, knowing that comptrollers are supposed to monitor this kind of behavior in the......

Siena College released poll numbers for various NY election races yesterday. In the wackiest race of all - the Attorney General race between Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Jeanine Pirro - it looks like the embattled Pirro is gaining slightly on Cuomo. Cuomo now leads by 13 points, 50 to Pirro's 37, but a month ago, Cuomo led by 17 points. But it's not like voters are suddenly switching sides - Cuomo's numbers went down......

Surprise, surprise. When Siena College Research surveyed state voters about its two Senators, it turned out that New Yorkers like Chuck Schumer twice as much as Hillary Clinton. The measure was "which Senator is more effective," which 44% finding Schumer "more effective to Clinton's 22%. In fact, Schumer was rated higher than Clinton is all categories - men, women, whites, Latinos, city folk, suburbanistes - except African-American voters, who preferred Clinton (45% to Schumer's 21%).......

Siena College conducted a survey that shows most New York residents do not trust the state government. Gothamist could have conducted a survey using photographs of George Pataki, Joseph Bruno, and Sheldon Silver and asking little kids what they thought and we suspect we would have gotten the same findings ("he doesn't look like someone that would approve my allowance"), though less statistically significant. The Siena College findings go on to that it seems like......

A poll from the Siena College Research Institute says that it looks like Govenor Pataki won't be reelected. Given various matchups, Pataki would be defeated by either Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who has announced he's running for Governor next year, and Senator Hillary Clinton who is actually being urged by many, including Congressman Charles Rangel, to run for President in 2008. Which means that Pataki seems like a terrible candidate to represent the Republican......