NY GOV: Friend Or Cuo?
A new poll from Quinnipiac Univ. shows an uphill battle for NY Gov. David Paterson (D) in his quest to return to Albany. Paterson trails in a Dem primary against AG Andrew Cuomo (D), and the Gov. faces a more difficult general-election matchup with ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) than his Dem rival.
The Quinnipiac survey of NY RVs, released this a.m., shows Cuomo leading Paterson 55-23% in a Dem primary, with 20% undec. What's more, Paterson ties Giuliani 43-43% in a GOV '10 matchup, while Cuomo leads the GOPer 51-37%. In their respective matchups, Cuomo leads Indies by 5%, while Paterson trails them by 9%. Cuomo gains 81% support from Dems, while Paterson only gains 70%.
Cuomo is also better liked than Paterson. The AG has a fav/unfav of 63%/15% among RVs, 78%/7% among Dems and 58%/15% among Indies. Paterson, however, stands at just 41%/35% overall, 51%/25% among Dems and 37%/37% among Indies. Cuomo's fav ratings are up since the previous survey, while Paterson's are down.
This trend mirrors a similar movement for approval marks. Three-quarters of RVs, 76%, approve of Cuomo as AG, while just 11% disapprove -- up from 69% approve and 16% disapprove on 1/12. Meanwhile, less than half of NY RVs (45%) approve of the way Paterson is handling his job as Gov., and 41% disapprove. Last summer, 64% approved of Paterson, and just 14% disapproved.
More recently, Paterson had a 53% approval mark on 1/12 as he contemplated a replacement for Sec/State Hillary Clinton -- a process which has been widely criticized. In fact, most NYers (52%) disapprove of the way Paterson handled picking HRC's replacement; only about one in three, 35%, approve. On 1/25, 44% approved of Paterson's handling the Senate pick, and 42% disapproved.
The Quinnipiac Univ. poll, conducted 2/10-15, surveyed 1,065 NY RVs and has margin of error +/- 3.0%. The Dem primary subsample included 450 Dem RVs and has margin of error +/- 4.6%
(MATTHEW GOTTLIEB)
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