Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul's approval and favorable ratings are edging up, but a new poll indicates a majority of New Yorkers would prefer someone else to win the 2026 election for governor in the Empire State.

According to a Siena College poll conducted Dec. 2-5 and released on Tuesday, only a third (33%) of registered voters in New York state said they would vote to re-elect Hochul to a second four-year term, with a majority (57%) saying they wanted someone else.

Only 48% of Democrats said – at this extremely early point – that they're prepared to re-elect Hochul, with four in 10 Democrats saying they want "someone else."

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The percentage of voters who prefer another candidate jumps to 65% among independents and 85% among Republicans.

Hochul, who at the time was the state’s lieutenant governor, in August 2021 was sworn in as New York’s first female governor, after three-term Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace amid multiple scandals.

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She defeated then-Rep. Lee Zeldin by just over six points in 2022 to win a full four-year term steering New York. Zeldin's showing was the best by a Republican gubernatorial nominee in blue-state New York since then-GOP Gov. George Pataki won re-election to a third term in 2002.

In July, Hochul announced her intention to run for re-election in 2026.

Apparently contributing to Hochul's polling woes is the governor's support for the New York City congestion pricing plan, which takes effect next month.

Most passenger cars entering Midtown and Lower Manhattan will now be charged $9 once a day to enter the congestion zone at peak hours, and $2.25 at other times.

According to the poll, voters by a 51%-29% margin oppose Hochul’s plan, 51-29%. That includes 56% of New York City voters and six in 10 downstate residents.

But Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg noted that "there’s some good news for the Governor. Her favorability rating improved for the second consecutive poll."

Hochul's favorable rating edged up from 36%-51% in October to 39%-49% now. And her job approval rating as governor also jumped from 41%-51% in October to 46%-49% now.

"The bad news is that both ratings remain stubbornly underwater. Hochul has not had a positive favorability rating since January of this year and she has never had 50% or more voters view her favorably," Greenberg added.

But he added that "voters say that all things being equal they’d prefer a Democrat over a Republican to be the next governor, 52-34%."

Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York, who is mulling a primary challenge against Hochul, late last month took to social media to argue that the governor is "in grave danger of losing to a Republican in 2026 – an outcome not seen in 30 years."

New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the first initiative of her 2025 State of the State plan: up to $500 in "inflation refunds" for New Yorkers dealing with spiking costs-of-living in the Empire State.

The proposal would take $3 billion in "excess" sales tax revenue that had been "driven by inflation" and return the money to nearly half of the state's population.

Families making less than $300,000 would be eligible for $500, and individual taxpayers making less than $150,000 would receive $300 under the plan. The governor's office said the announcement is one of several proposals aimed at lessening the burden on New Yorkers' cost-of-living.

"Because of inflation, New York has generated unprecedented revenues through the sales tax — now, we're returning that cash back to middle class families," Hochul said in a statement Monday.

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"My agenda for the coming year will be laser-focused on putting money back in your pockets, and that starts with proposing Inflation Refund checks of up to $500 to help millions of hard-working New Yorkers.

"It's simple: the cost of living is still too damn high, and New Yorkers deserve a break," said Hochul, offering a sentiment similar to that repeated by perennial candidate and Rent is Too Damn High Party founder Jimmy McMillan.

However, New York Republicans were not as receptive to Hochul's plan, as NYSGOP Executive Director David Laska told Fox News Digital the governor appeared simply out to make friends rather than bring about long-term relief.

"With her approval rating deep underwater, Kathy Hochul is resorting to bribing New Yorkers to like her," Laska said. 

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"Handing out one-time checks won’t stop the crushing inflation Democrats’ policies have fueled – it will only add to it. New York needs real, permanent solutions: relief from our highest-in-the-nation tax burden and a rollback of job-killing regulations."

New York City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli claimed that the $300 offered to middle- and low-income residents would still be less than what is spent on each migrant daily.

"[That] is not that backslapping win the governor thinks it is," said Borelli, R-Staten Island. 

Borelli added that the plan "looks increasingly silly" in the face of Hochul's successful push for congestion pricing and her borrowing "costly energy cues from the Greta Thunberg School of Energy Policy."

"Newsflash for Kathy Hochul," added Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., "Taking thousands of dollars out of New Yorkers’ left pocket and then putting $500 in their right pocket isn’t a tax cut, it’s an insult."

State Sen. Rob Ortt, R-Niagara Falls, said that Democrats like Hochul continue to make New York State more expensive despite pleas for relief.

"The governor's mindset is promising, however words are words," said Ortt, the top Republican in the chamber.

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Ortt claimed that it is his caucus that is the true voice for hardworking New Yorkers seeking "real affordability… not just one-shot gimmicks."

Meanwhile, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said Albany needs to "stop treating New Yorkers like bottomless ATM machines" with their new tolls and tax hikes.

Malliotakis' constituents now face an extra $9 "congestion" toll to enter Lower Manhattan, on top of an approximate $20 round-trip cost to commute on the state-owned Verrazzano Bridge.

"If she’d allow her constituents to keep more of their hard-earned money from the start, there would be no need for these ‘inflation refund’ checks to begin with."

Hochul's office estimated 8.6 million out of 19.5 million New Yorkers would benefit from the planned "refunds."

Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul for further comment on the criticisms.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., referred to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as "the new Joe Biden," warning that Democrats could lose the 2026 gubernatorial election just like they lost the 2024 presidential contest.

"Kathy Hochul is the new Joe Biden. She may be in denial about the depth of her vulnerabilities as a Democratic nominee. A Democratic incumbent who is less popular in New York than Donald Trump is in grave danger of losing to a Republican in 2026 – an outcome not seen in 30 years," the congressman said in a post on X.

"Waiting until it’s too late gave us a Republican President in 2024 and could give us a Republican Governor in 2026. Let's avoid repeating history and avoid sleepwalking toward impending disaster and defeat," he suggested.

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Fox News Digital reached out to request comment from the offices of Hochul and Torres, but neither immediately responded.

Torres told Spectrum News NY 1 that he is considering a gubernatorial bid, and noted that he plans to do a "listening tour" beginning in December and January.

The congressman, who won re-election to the House of Representatives earlier this month, said in "mid-2025" he will make his "final decision." 

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The lawmaker has accused the "far left" of turning people off from the Democratic Party.

"Donald Trump has no greater friend than the far left, which has managed to alienate historic numbers of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and Jews from the Democratic Party with absurdities like ‘Defund the Police’ or ‘From the River to the Sea’ or ‘Latinx,’" the congressman opined in a post on X earlier this month.

"There is more to lose than there is to gain politically from pandering to a far left that is more representative of Twitter, Twitch, and TikTok than it is of the real world. The working class is not buying the ivory-towered nonsense that the far left is selling," he added.