A NY1/YNN Marist College found 50 percent of registered New York voters do not consider themselves supporters of the ongoing Occupy Wall Street movement.

But on a key issue for the protesters, keeping a surcharge on those making $250,000 or more that’s due to expire at the end of the year, voters registered broad support for letting it stay in place.

Still, more New Yorkers — 44 percent — find themselves agreeing with the Occupy Wall Street movement compared to the conservative Tea Party protests. That movement finds support from only 21 percent of New York voters. While those agreeing with the Occupy movement are young and tend to be registered Democrats, those who identify with the Tea Party, 40 percent say they are Republicans, while 47 percent say their political beliefs are conservative.

It’s not especially surprising, given New Yorker’s image as a left-leaning state with a large Democratic enrollment.

“Not surprisingly, there is substantial support for the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York State as compared to the Tea Party movement,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “However, when it comes to the potential political impact of the two groups for campaign ’12, New Yorkers believe the Tea Party movement has the advantage.”

But when it comes to keeping the surcharge that’s due to expire at the end of the year — the so-called “millionaires tax” — 61 percent believe it should be extended into next year.

Keeping the tax has strong support — 69 percent — among Democrats.

But GOP voters are split on the issue. Forty-nine percent want it to be extended, while 45 percent do not.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledges that extending the tax is a popular move, but says his stance on letting the tax expire is a principled one in light of the businesses that are fleeing the state, citing New York’s poor tax and business climate.

He’s compared the position to the one his father, Mario Cuomo, held on the death penalty, pointing out a majority of New Yorkers supported the death penalty at the time, but the elder Cuomo held firm, because he thought it was the right thing to do.

Cuomo has said he would continue to oppose the tax on the state level, but supports President Obama’s tax-the-wealthy plan on the federal level.

The survey of 1,030 registerd voters was conducted between Oct. 25 and Oct. 27. It has a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.

EMBARGOED_Complete November 1st 2011 NYS Poll Release and Tables

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