NY-23: Hoffman Leads by Five Points in New Siena Poll

WATERTOWN, N.Y. — The final Siena poll (pdf) of the NY-23 special election is out, and while it finds Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman leading Democrat Bill Owens, many of purged GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava’s supporters have moved into the “undecided” column.

On the eve of Election Day, Conservative Doug Hoffman has opened up a five point lead  over Democrat Bill Owens in the race for the 23rd Congressional District.  Republican Assembly member  Dede Scozzafava still gets six percent support, but since her decision to suspend her campaign and support  Owens, the number of undecided voters has doubled from nine percent to 18 percent, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll of likely voters.

Besides trailing in the two latest polls — a new Public Policy Polling survey released last night found Hoffman with a commanding lead — Owens has another problem: Hoffman’s net favorability numbers increased dramatically since Scozzafava dropped out of the race, while Owens’ has dropped.

“Hoffman’s favorability rating shot up from a net positive four points to a now net positive 14 points – 47-33 percent,” said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg in a release accompanying the survey results.  “Owens’ favorability dropped slightly from a net positive four points to a net  negative one point.”