George Santos voters overwhelmingly want him to step down: Poll

More than three-quarters of voters in New York’s 3rd congressional district think controversial Rep. George Santos should step down, according to a new poll.

A poll by Newsday and Siena College found that 83% of Santos voters viewed him negatively, including 78% of Republicans.

A total of 78% of voters in Nassau County and Queens County want the 34-year-old GOP MP to resign, including 89% of Democrats, 72% of Independents and 71% of Republicans. Just 13% say Santos should stay, while 9% said they don’t know or have no opinion.

In addition, three-quarters of voters believe that Santos cannot be an effective representative of the people who brought him to power, and only 16% believe that he can be.

“NY-3 voters are overwhelmingly and unequivocally saying Rep. Santos should step down. Whether you look at party, gender, race, age, religion, income, or the county where voters live, the answer is the same: resign,” said Siena College Poll principal Don Levy.

“Similarly, voters in every party and every demographic know who Santos is, follow the news about Santos, and treat Santos unfavorably.”

By a margin of more than two to one (63% vs. 31%), respondents who backed Santos over Democrat Robert Zimmerman in November say they wouldn’t have voted for him had they known of the congressman’s numerous confirmed falsifications related to his life story. .

The poll also showed that 71% of county voters said the House GOP Steering Committee, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), improperly appointed Santos to the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee and Small Business Committee. even after Santos admitted to The Post last month that he lied about getting an MBA from New York University and working for top investment firms Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

Santos recently said he will not step down until the 142,000 people who elected him tell him to leave and said he still plans to run for re-election in 2024.

“I was elected by 142,000 people – until that same 142,000 people tell me they don’t want me … we’ll find out in two years,” he said, and McCarthy later backed him up, saying, “You know why I stand next to him? Because his constituents voted for him.”

Last week, a poll in Siena showed that 59% of voters across the state want Santos to step down, while 56% view him negatively.

“These numbers were even higher in the suburbs of the state,” Levy said, noting that this week’s poll echoed those numbers but also showed huge disparities between the two parties “rarely seen in today’s divided political climate.”

Tuesday’s poll also showed that 77% of NY-3 voters see Santos’ rise as a sign that “our political system is broken,” while only 12% called his election to the House of Representatives “one-of-a-kind.” event.”