| Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #13579 |
| 85% of New Yorkers Say Spitzer Made Right Decision to Resign as Governor: Immediately after New York Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation, SurveyUSA interviewed 1,000 state of New York adults. 85% say Spitzer made the right decision. 10% say Spitzer made the wrong decision. 59% say Spitzer is a fundamentally good person who did a bad thing. But 29% say Spitzer is a fundamentally bad person. 64% say Spitzer should be charged with a crime; 27% say no charges should be filed. Spitzer replacement David Paterson is a blank slate for most New Yorkers. 30% have a favorable impression of him. 8% have a unfavorable impression. 58% have either a neutral impression or no impression of the man who will become Governor of New York on Monday. Caveats: this survey captures a very first reaction to breaking news. Opinions may change over time, as the news events are analyzed, dissected and digested by the public. |
| 1 | New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has announced he will resign. Was this the right decision or the wrong decision? |
| 1000 Adults | All | Gender | Age | Race | Party Affiliation | Ideology | Marital Status | Support For President | Region | ||||||||||||||||||
| Margin of Sampling Error: ± 2.2% | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-49 | 50-64 | 65+ | White | Black | Hispanic | Other | Republic | Democrat | Independ | Conserva | Moderate | Liberal | Single | Married | Divorced | Other | Clinton | Obama | McCain | NYC | NYC subu | Upstate | |
| Right Decision | 85% | 86% | 85% | 82% | 88% | 86% | 86% | 88% | 83% | 80% | 77% | 86% | 86% | 88% | 89% | 86% | 87% | 86% | 85% | ** | ** | 81% | 87% | 91% | 82% | 85% | 90% |
| Wrong Decision | 10% | 10% | 10% | 14% | 8% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 8% | 18% | 12% | 11% | 10% | 11% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 8% | 12% | ** | ** | 13% | 10% | 6% | 12% | 10% | 8% |
| Not Sure | 4% | 3% | 5% | 3% | 5% | 4% | 6% | 3% | 9% | 2% | 11% | 3% | 4% | 2% | 3% | 5% | 3% | 6% | 3% | ** | ** | 5% | 4% | 2% | 6% | 5% | 2% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Composition of Adults | 100% | 47% | 53% | 32% | 31% | 21% | 17% | 64% | 14% | 14% | 8% | 23% | 49% | 21% | 20% | 31% | 25% | 34% | 59% | 3% | 5% | 38% | 28% | 24% | 43% | 26% | 31% |
| 2 | Based on what you know, should Spitzer be charged with a crime? Or not? |
| 1000 Adults | All | Gender | Age | Race | Party Affiliation | Ideology | Marital Status | Support For President | Region | ||||||||||||||||||
| Margin of Sampling Error: ± 3% | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-49 | 50-64 | 65+ | White | Black | Hispanic | Other | Republic | Democrat | Independ | Conserva | Moderate | Liberal | Single | Married | Divorced | Other | Clinton | Obama | McCain | NYC | NYC subu | Upstate | |
| Should Be Charged | 64% | 62% | 65% | 69% | 70% | 58% | 50% | 66% | 56% | 63% | 61% | 71% | 59% | 67% | 69% | 62% | 61% | 67% | 64% | ** | ** | 56% | 63% | 73% | 60% | 64% | 68% |
| Should Not Be Charged | 27% | 32% | 23% | 25% | 20% | 33% | 35% | 24% | 34% | 30% | 31% | 20% | 34% | 21% | 22% | 27% | 33% | 26% | 27% | ** | ** | 36% | 29% | 17% | 31% | 25% | 23% |
| Not Sure | 9% | 6% | 12% | 6% | 10% | 9% | 15% | 10% | 9% | 7% | 8% | 9% | 8% | 12% | 9% | 11% | 5% | 7% | 9% | ** | ** | 8% | 8% | 10% | 8% | 11% | 9% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Composition of Adults | 100% | 47% | 53% | 32% | 31% | 21% | 17% | 64% | 14% | 14% | 8% | 23% | 49% | 21% | 20% | 31% | 25% | 34% | 59% | 3% | 5% | 38% | 28% | 24% | 43% | 26% | 31% |
 | Is your impression of David Paterson favorable, unfavorable, neutral, or do you have no impression of David Paterson? |
| 1000 Adults | All | Gender | Age | Race | Party Affiliation | Ideology | Marital Status | Support For President | Region | ||||||||||||||||||
| Margin of Sampling Error: ± 3.2% | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-49 | 50-64 | 65+ | White | Black | Hispanic | Other | Republic | Democrat | Independ | Conserva | Moderate | Liberal | Single | Married | Divorced | Other | Clinton | Obama | McCain | NYC | NYC subu | Upstate | |
| Favorable | 30% | 33% | 27% | 26% | 27% | 36% | 37% | 27% | 45% | 31% | 28% | 31% | 36% | 21% | 31% | 33% | 36% | 35% | 27% | ** | ** | 31% | 40% | 23% | 33% | 26% | 29% |
| Unfavorable | 8% | 11% | 5% | 7% | 12% | 7% | 5% | 9% | 8% | 3% | 7% | 9% | 7% | 9% | 10% | 11% | 4% | 8% | 8% | ** | ** | 8% | 5% | 12% | 6% | 10% | 10% |
| Neutral | 29% | 26% | 32% | 36% | 25% | 25% | 29% | 28% | 30% | 34% | 33% | 28% | 27% | 37% | 28% | 27% | 29% | 30% | 30% | ** | ** | 24% | 34% | 31% | 29% | 26% | 32% |
| No Impression | 29% | 26% | 31% | 28% | 31% | 30% | 24% | 32% | 13% | 29% | 28% | 28% | 26% | 29% | 27% | 25% | 28% | 23% | 31% | ** | ** | 32% | 20% | 32% | 28% | 33% | 26% |
| Not Sure | 4% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 5% | 2% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 3% | ** | ** | 5% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 5% | 3% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Composition of Adults | 100% | 47% | 53% | 32% | 31% | 21% | 17% | 64% | 14% | 14% | 8% | 23% | 49% | 21% | 20% | 31% | 25% | 34% | 59% | 3% | 5% | 38% | 28% | 24% | 43% | 26% | 31% |
| 4 | Based on what you know, do you think Eliot Spitzer is a fundamentally good person who did a bad thing? Or ... is Spitzer a fundamentally bad person? |
| 1000 Adults | All | Gender | Age | Race | Party Affiliation | Ideology | Marital Status | Support For President | Region | ||||||||||||||||||
| Margin of Sampling Error: ± 3.1% | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-49 | 50-64 | 65+ | White | Black | Hispanic | Other | Republic | Democrat | Independ | Conserva | Moderate | Liberal | Single | Married | Divorced | Other | Clinton | Obama | McCain | NYC | NYC subu | Upstate | |
| Good Person | 59% | 59% | 59% | 62% | 54% | 60% | 60% | 54% | 77% | 64% | 60% | 49% | 65% | 53% | 48% | 59% | 64% | 58% | 59% | ** | ** | 64% | 70% | 44% | 67% | 49% | 57% |
| Bad Person | 29% | 31% | 28% | 26% | 36% | 30% | 25% | 34% | 14% | 24% | 25% | 41% | 24% | 32% | 42% | 30% | 26% | 31% | 29% | ** | ** | 24% | 21% | 46% | 22% | 39% | 32% |
| Not Sure | 12% | 10% | 13% | 12% | 10% | 10% | 16% | 12% | 9% | 12% | 15% | 10% | 11% | 16% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 11% | 12% | ** | ** | 12% | 9% | 11% | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Composition of Adults | 100% | 47% | 53% | 32% | 31% | 21% | 17% | 64% | 14% | 14% | 8% | 23% | 49% | 21% | 20% | 31% | 25% | 34% | 59% | 3% | 5% | 38% | 28% | 24% | 43% | 26% | 31% |