Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is now facing his lowest approval ratings since he first set foot in the upper chamber over a quarter century ago.
The lead Senate Democrat’s job approval is deep underwater among Empire State residents, with just under three in four holding a “poor” or “fair” view of him — his worst mark since he took office in 1999, according to a Marist poll released Thursday. Voters also handed Schumer’s fellow New York Democrat, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, her lowest job approval rating in more than 15 years, the survey shows.
Forty-one percent of voters surveyed said Schumer is doing a “poor” job in office, while 24% gave him a “fair” approval rating. Meanwhile, only eight percent of New York voters said Schumer is doing an “excellent” job, and 19% said he’s doing a “good” job in office — meaning just over one in four voters gave a positive review of the career politician, who has continuously served in elected office since 1975.
Schumer’s overall approval rating is down 34% from 2025, according to the poll. The biggest swing in Schumer’s approval came from Republicans, who jumped from 69% to 84% in rating the leader’s job as “fair” or “poor.” Democrats also notably increased their criticism of Schumer, albeit slightly from 46% to 50%.
The poll comes as a partial government shutdown enters its second week, affecting agencies that operate under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
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Schumer steered his party away from a government shutdown in early 2025 but marched his caucus straight into another months later — which broke the record for the longest such standoff in history. Democrats withheld their votes to reopen the government in an attempt to secure an extension of enhanced Obamacare subsidies, but failed to secure them, as a handful of moderate Democrats in the Senate eventually sidestepped Schumer and voted to fund the government.
Schumer’s ratings also coincide with calls from the Democratic base to remove older establishment politicians and revitalize the party. Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also faced pressure to primary Schumer in 2028 and has led Schumer by double digits in head-to-head polling from 2025.
Just over a majority of New York voters surveyed said Gillibrand’s job performance is “fair” or “poor,” and 22% of voters said she is doing a “good” job in office. The numbers are the lowest she’s received since September 2010 and 36% lower than her April 2025 numbers. Gillibrand has served in the Senate since succeeding Hillary Clinton in 2009.
The Democratic Party as a whole is also facing record-low levels of popularity. Only 18% of voters approve of how Democrats in Washington are managing their role.
“With the Democratic Party at historically low approval ratings, it’s no surprise that the same is true of its leaders. Chuck Schumer is a contemptible demagogue, and Kirsten Gillibrand hides in the shadows,” New York GOP communications director David Laska told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Not that anyone could blame her: who would want to be affiliated with a party that just showed the entire nation that it puts Somali pirates and illegal immigrants above the safety and well-being of American citizens?”
The poll was conducted from Feb. 16-19 and surveyed 1,552 adults throughout the Empire State. The survey has a 3.2 margin of error.
Schumer and Gillibrand’s offices did not immediately respond to the DCNF for comment.
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