Politics on the Hudson

   A Quinnipiac University poll released today shows Gov. David Paterson’s disapproval rating is 61 percent to 28 percent, the same as it was in a May 13 survey. Disapproval of the governor—who has been calling special sessions to try and get the Senate to resolve its leadership stalemate and pass legislation—ranges from 76 percent to 16 percent among Republicans to 62-24 among independent voters and 52-36 among Democrats, the poll found.

   Black voters approve 52 percent to 35 percent of the work Paterson is doing, while white voters disapprove 66 percent to 23 percent and Hispanics disapprove 54 percent to 33 percent, according to the poll of 2,477 registered voters between June 16 and Sunday. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

   “Gov. David Paterson’s job approval holds negative among every demographic group except his fellow black New Yorkers. The only good news is that, like the economy, Paterson may have hit bottom, with nowhere to go but up,” Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement.

   Quinnipiac also surveyed voters on next year’s gubernatorial election and race for U.S. senator. In a Democratic primary for governor, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo would have the support of 57 percent of voters to Paterson’s 20 percent, according to the poll. Twenty percent of voters are undecided. Paterson is running for election next year; Cuomo has been widely discussed as a potential candidate, but he has not announced that he would seek the office.

   Voters said 64 percent to 22 percent that Paterson does not deserve to be elected to a four-year term. Paterson became governor after Eliot Spitzer resigned from the office in disgrace last year.

   Cuomo leads former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, by 51 percent to 39 percent in a potential match-up next year, the poll found. 

   In an interview on Talk 1300 radio in Albany this morning, Giuliani said he hasn’t made any decision about running for governor.

   On the U.S. Senate race, Quinnipiac found that 27 percent would back U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney in a Democratic primary and 23 percent would back U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Four percent would support Jonathan Tasini and 44 percent are undecided.

   After five months in office, Gillibrand’s approval rating is 37 percent to 15 percent. Forty-eight percent are undecided.

   “The New York cliche, that a liberal wins a Democratic primary, looks like it holds true in this poll. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, a city liberal, edges Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, an upstate moderate, but almost half are undecided. They each beat Congressman Peter King, a long Island Republican, by about the same,” Carroll said.

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