By a 51 – 22 percent margin, New York State voters say Sheldon Silver should step down as State Assembly Speaker because of the way he handled the Vito Lopez harassment scandal, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

In a slight gender reversal, men want Speaker Silver to step down 54 – 23 percent, compared to 48 – 21 percent among women, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds.

Silver should step down, Republicans say 57 – 14 percent, Democrats say 45 – 28 percent and independent voters say 53 – 21 percent, New York City voters say 50 – 26 percent, upstate voters say 49 – 18 percent and suburban voters say 56 – 21 percent.

New York State voters disapprove 52 – 21 percent of the job Silver is doing, down from 44 – 23 percent disapproval April 17 and Silver’s worst overall approval rating ever.

Voters approve 54 – 31 percent of the job their own state senator is doing, but say 47 – 40 percent that their state senator should be thrown out of office as part of an overall house- cleaning. Voters are split 42 – 40 percent in approval of their Assembly member, but are willing 45 – 38 percent to replace that member as part of a legislative house-cleaning.

“The Vito Lopez sex scandal persuades a bare majority of New Yorkers that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver should step aside. A lot of voters say get rid of the pack of them; there should be a legislative house-cleaning,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

New York State voters say 58 – 35 percent they would not want their daughter to be an intern in the State Legislature. Men say not-my-daughter 59 – 33 percent and women agree 56 – 37 percent. Voters with children under 18 years old say no 68 – 28 percent.

“With all the stories about the bad behavior in Albany, would you want your daughter to be a legislative intern? A majority of voters say no,” Carroll added. Gov. Cuomo Job Approval

New York State voters give Gov. Andrew Cuomo a 53 – 30 percent job approval rating, his lowest net approval rating since he took office. Approval is 68 – 15 percent among Democrats and 51 – 31 percent among independent voters. Republicans disapprove 49 – 37 percent. Approval is 61 – 23 percent in New York City, 45 – 39 percent upstate and 58 – 25 percent in the suburbs. Men approve 51 – 35 percent while women approve 55 – 25 percent.

Voters say 58 – 31 percent that Cuomo deserves reelection in 2014.

New York State government is dysfunctional, voters say 67 – 29 percent, with strong agreement from every group. A total of 86 percent of voters say government corruption is a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem. But 60 percent of voters say New York has about as much government corruption as other states.

Gov. Cuomo should have primary responsibility for cleaning up legislative corruption, 49 percent of voters say, while 33 percent say legislative leaders should handle it.

Cuomo has done an “excellent” or “good” job cleaning up legislative corruption, 38 percent of voters say, while 50 percent say “not so good” or “poor.”

Only 15 percent of voters say legislative leaders have done an “excellent” or “good” job cleaning up corruption, while 75 percent say “not so good” or “poor.”

“Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s job approval holds at an OK level, but he set the bar very high in his first two years,” Carroll said. “The reelection campaign is still a year away, but most New Yorkers think their governor deserves re-election.”

“Two-thirds of New Yorkers accept the ‘dysfunctional’ label for their state government and they think corruption is a big problem. But – maybe they’re cynical – most think it’s just as bad elsewhere.”

From May 29 – June 3, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,075 New York State voters with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Virginia, and the nation as a public service and for research.

(Quinnipiac)