NYC voters would likely support Gov. Kathy Hochul removing Adams as mayor, AP VoteCast shows

WASHINGTON (AP) — As New York Gov. Kathy Hochul weighs whether to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office, AP VoteCast shows that many New York City voters in last year’s election were already on board with the move.

About two-thirds of New York City voters in November’s election said at the time that they would approve of Hochul removing Adams, and most had an unfavorable view of the Democratic mayor. That’s according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 4,000 New York voters and 120,000 voters nationwide. About 1,700 of those New York voters resided in New York City.

Hochul said on Monday she was considering removing Adams amid what she called “serious questions about the long-term future” of his administration. They arose after a series of extraordinary events in the last week.

The federal Justice Department pushed to dismiss corruption charges against Adams, saying that the case was interfering with his ability to help President Donald Trump with immigration enforcement. Several federal prosecutors resigned in protest, including the interim U.S. attorney for Manhattan. Then four of Adams’ top deputies quit.

Adams has pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery after prosecutors accused him of accepting illegal campaign contributions and overseas trips. He denies wrongdoing.

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NYC voters had negative views of Adams

Even before the order from top Justice Department officials to drop charges against Adams, he wasn’t broadly popular among New York City voters. Just over half of NYC voters had a “very” or “somewhat” unfavorable view of Adams in November, and about one-third viewed him favorably. About 1 in 10 NYC voters said they did not know enough about Adams to have an opinion.

In the state as a whole, Adams was not as well-known: about one-third of New York voters living outside NYC said they didn’t know enough about Adams to give an opinion. But those with one were about three times as likely to have a negative view as a positive one.

New York voters are concerned about corruption

Most New York voters saw corruption as a pervasive problem in their state’s government in the November survey.

About 6 in 10 voters statewide called this a “major problem,” and about 3 in 10 said it was a “minor problem.” Republican voters in New York were more likely than Democratic voters to call this a significant issue. About three-quarters of Republicans said this, compared to about half of Democrats. New York Democrats were more likely to see it as a minor problem, but almost no Democrats or Republicans in the state said it was “not a problem.”

In neighboring New Jersey, only about half of voters said corruption is a major problem, AP VoteCast found. Roughly 4 in 10 called it a minor problem in their state’s government. Similar to New York, Republicans in New Jersey were more likely than Democrats to call corruption a major issue. About 6 in 10 New Jersey Republican voters said this, compared to about 4 in 10 Democratic voters in the state.

NYC voters have disapproved of Adams for a while

Adams was underwater with New York City voters long before Trump took office and pushed to dismiss these charges.

A 2023 Quinnipiac University poll of registered NYC voters found that about 6 in 10 disapproved of how Adams was handling his job as mayor, their lowest job approval rating for a New York City mayor since they started asking the question in 1996.

Majorities said Adams did not understand the problems of people like them, did not have strong leadership qualities, and was not honest and trustworthy. At the time, strong majorities disapproved of how Adams was handling the issues of homelessness, the city budget and crime.

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Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.