Hochul holds solid lead over James in NY governor poll

Incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul holds a commanding lead in the Democratic primary for governor — with more than double the support of her nearest rival, state Attorney Letitia James, a new survey obtained by The Post reveals.

Hochul leads James 40 percent to 17 percent among primary voters, with 7 percent of Democrats supporting the potential bid of Mayor Bill de Blasio or Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is a candidate.

About 30 percent of Democrats are undecided.

In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, Hochul leads James with 44 percent support to 26 percent, the poll by In the Field Global found.

The poll did not include Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Nassau/Queens), who is expected to announce Monday whether he will jump into the race.

James picks up more of de Blasio and Williams’ supporters than Hochul if they’re not in the primary.

“Hochul is doing all the right things and she has the bully pulpit,” said In the Field Global pollster Rob Cole, a top aide to former three-term Republican Gov. George Pataki, who conducted the survey for a moderate political group.

Cole said Buffalo native Hochul’s strategy of spending a lot of time in the New York City region is paying off.

She leads Brooklynite James in the Big Apple.

Cole said James needs to compare her record in public office to Hochul’s, including the seven years Hochul served as Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s lieutenant governor.

Hochul took over as New York’s chief executive in August after disgraced ex-three-term Gov. Cuomo resigned in a sexual harassment scandal. James’s devastating investigative report concluded Cuomo mistreated up to 11 women and harassed several staffers, forcing his exit under the threat of impeachment. He denied wrongdoing.

The survey mirrors a Data For Progress poll released last week that showed Hochul with a 14 point lead over James.

This poll also showed that 73 percent of Democrats had a favorable view of New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the powerful Democratic majority leader, as he prepares to seek re-election to a fifth, six-year term next year year, while 13 percent had an unfavorable view with the rest undecided. His popularity will make it difficult for anyone to topple him in a primary challenge.

Meanwhile 75 percent of Democrats had a favorable view of President Joe Biden while 15 percent did not.

The survey queried 282 Democrats statewide on November 17 — a small sample — and was taken as part of a larger survey. It has a margin of error of plus or minus six percentage points.