Politics on the Hudson

New Yorkers support Gov. David Paterson’s proposals for a state spending cap and term limits on state leaders, but they overwhelmingly do not support his election bid, a Siena College poll today found.

Paterson has sought to beat back low poll numbers by proposing spending controls and ethics reforms as he is set to release his 2010-11 budget proposal Tuesday. And the Siena Poll showed Paterson’s favorable rating rose from 27 percent to 38 percent since October, while his unfavorable rating has fallen from 61 percent to 52 percent.

But Paterson’s job approval rating has risen more slowly, up to 24 percent positive compared to 19 percent in October. And only 21 percent of New Yorkers would vote for Paterson this year, the Siena poll found.

“His job performance rating remains three-to-one negative and while 21 percent of voters are prepared to elect him to a full term as Governor, 60 percent would prefer ‘someone else’,” said Steven Greenberg, Siena College poll spokesman.

Paterson’s low job performance rating and his weak campaign fundraising is expected to renew calls among Democrats that he not run for election in November. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who last week announced having $16.1 million in campaign account compared to $3 million for Paterson, is expected to run for the Democratic nomination for governor.

In a potential Democratic primary among Paterson, Cuomo and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, Cuomo received 59 percent support, with Paterson at 21 percent and Levy at six percent, the poll found. Last month, Cuomo led Paterson 67 percent to 23 percent.

Among voters who heard or read about the governor’s State of the State address, 47 percent said he “put aside politics to take on the special interests” compared to 38 percent who said he “did nothing but deliver campaign sound bites.”

But nearly half of voters said if the state enacted his proposals it would move New York toward a better fiscal condition, Greenberg said.

Seventy-four percent of voters supported a budget spending cap, and 67 percent supported term limits. Voters were split over his proposal for public financing of state campaigns, the poll found.

As for the budget, 45 percent of voters said Paterson should close a roughly $7 billion deficit for the upcoming fiscal year increasing state taxes. Thirty-three percent said the deficit should be closed by “significant cuts in health care and education spending,” which are the largest pieces of the state budget.

A majority of Democrats supported tax increases, while a plurality of Republicans and independents want education and health cuts. Tax increases were supported by a majority of New York City voters and pluralities of suburban and upstate voters, Greenberg said.

The Siena poll found for the first time since she’s been a U.S. Senator, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s unfavorable ratings are higher than her favorable ratings, 32 percent to 30 percent. Only 29 percent of New Yorkers would elect Gillibrand in November after she was appointed to the position a year ago.

But Gillibrand, a former Albany-area congresswoman, had a 41 percent to 17 percent lead over former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford in a potential Democratic primary.

The Siena Poll was conducted Jan. 10-14 to 806 state registered voters. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

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