Poll: Most NYers watching Trump trial, but divide continues

ALBANY — New Yorkers continue a sharp partisan divide over former President Donald Trump as he faces his first criminal trial in Manhattan, although a few other hot-button issues in a poll released Monday show some common ground.

The Siena College Research Institute poll found 54% of registered voters statewide said the trial over charges that Trump paid hush money to a porn star during his first campaign for president is “a legitimate trial to determine whether Trump is or is not guilty of criminal behavior.” Just 30% said the trial in which Trump is accused of falsifying records to cover up an affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels is a “witch hunt.”

But breaking down that finding shows some sharp disagreement.

The poll found 77% of Democrats believe the trial is legitimate, while 66% of Republicans see the trial of their presumptive nominee for president this year as a witch hunt. Among voters not enrolled in a major political party, 44% said the trial was legitimate while  37% called it a witch hunt.

In the suburbs, which includes Long Island, 55% of those polled said the trial is legitimate and 33% said it isn’t.

Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said 60% of New Yorkers polled said they are paying attention to the criminal trial.

The poll showed less of a divide and some general agreement on several active political issues in Washington, D.C., and in Albany. They include:

— By 69% to 24%, New Yorkers support enhancing safeguards for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. Democrats agreed by 80% to 14%; a plurality of Republicans 46% to 40% agreed; and independents were supportive 67% to 27%.

— Sixty-six percent of New Yorkers said they supported requiring high school athletes to compete in sports only under the gender with which they were born, rather than after any sex-change operation. Twenty-seven percent opposed restricting the athletes to their birth gender. A deeper look shows, 52% of Democrats supported restricting the athletes to their birth gender, compared with 27% who opposed it. And 83% of Republicans support the idea, compared with 15% who didn’t. Among independent voters, 77% support restricting high school athletes to competing under their birth gender, compared with 16% who didn’t.

— New Yorkers were divided, 48% to 45%, when asked if parent groups should be allowed to override the decisions of educators on what books should be available to students. However, a partisan divide was also evident: Among Democrats, 62% opposed allowing parent groups that power compared with 33%. But 69% of Republicans said parent groups should have that power compared with 23% who were opposed. Among independent voters, 56% would allow parent groups to have that authority, compared with 35% who opposed it.

— New Yorkers are divided on the issue of paying reparations to descendants of enslaved Black people, which is proposed in Washington and in Albany. The poll found 47% of New York voters supported reparations, compared with 46% who opposed. That’s a statistical tie under the poll’s margin of error. But a political divide was clear: 64% of Democrats supported paying reparations compared with 29% opposed; while 72% of Republicans opposed paying reparations compared with 18% who supported the idea. Fifty-five percent of independent voters opposed reparations compared with 36% who support it.

The poll contacted 806 registered voters April 15 through Wednesday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.