John Liu
A new Qunnipiac poll released today finds New York City Comptroller John Liu’s approval rating dropped 12 points last month after one of his fundraisers was caught in an FBI sting allegedly directing illegal donations to Mr. Liu’s mayoral campaign. According to Quinnipiac, 38% of New Yorkers approve of the job Mr. Liu’s doing compared to 50% in mid-October.
“New York City Comptroller John Liu has been in the news a lot, in a bad way. All those negative stories about his fundraising have zapped his job-approval numbers,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute,
The poll found disapproval of Mr. Liu also jumped 12 points in the past month going from 23 percent to 35 percent. Back in May, Mr. Liu’s approval rating was at a high of 57 percent and his disapproval rating was just 14 percent.
Federal investigators say Oliver Pan confessed to fraud after he was taped by an undercover FBI agent promising to direct $16,000 in contributions to Mr. Liu through a network of “straw donors” who would each give small amounts. The maximum donation allowable by law is $4,950. Mr. Liu has pledged to return $13,600 in donations associated with Mr. Pan.
Mr. Liu, who was elected in 2009, is considered a likely mayoral candidate for 2013. The poll found that his standing among the other prospective candidates hasn’t changed much. He’s still near the back of the pack with 9 percent.
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