Politics on the Hudson

Gov. David Paterson’s popularity has fallen so low that a majority of voters would rather have scandal-scarred Eliot Spitzer in office, a Marist College poll today found.

Between Paterson and Spitzer, 51 percent of voters said they would prefer the former governor who resigned in disgrace in March 2008 after soliciting a prostitute. Thirty-eight percent would want Paterson.

A Siena poll last month found that voters would prefer any of the three most recent governors to Paterson, even Spitzer.

“Voters are so dissatisfied with the governor’s performance that a majority — 51 percent — say they would prefer his sex scandal-plagued predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, be in office than he,” the Marist poll states.

Paterson’s job-approval rating also fell to a record low in Marist polls. Only 19 percent of poll respondents believe the Democratic governor is doing an excellent or good job. A Marist poll in March had Paterson with a 26 percent approval rating, which at the time was the lowest for any governor in the three decades of statewide polls by the Poughkeepsie-based college.

Paterson in recent weeks has tried to combat the low poll numbers. He has shaken up his governmental and campaign staffs, talked tough about his plans for election in 2010 and has traveled the state to announce federal stimulus aid for local projects.

While 66 percent of those polled said they believe Paterson is working hard as governor, 66 percent also said they do not believe he’s a good leader for New York.

In 2010 potential matchups, Paterson would lose to former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican, by more than 20 percentage points – 32 percent to 56 percent. Giuliani is considering a run for governor.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has the highest approval rating of any statewide official, with a 70 percent job-approval rating. In a hypothetical Democratic primary for governor in 2010, 70 percent of voters said they would vote for Cuomo compared with 21 percent who say they would pick Paterson. That’s a slightly larger lead than Marist found in March.

For Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, who Paterson picked to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton in January, 19 percent of voters approve of her job so far, but 43 percent don’t have an opinion yet.

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