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Qunnipiac University released their latest New York poll and it has some key details on the governor's race and the U.S. Senate race.
For Governor David Paterson, the Q Poll has one piece of good news. His favorable rating is up to 38 percent - the highest it has been since earlier this year. The last four Q Polls had Paterson's favorable rating under 30 percent. That favorable rating is padded by New York City, where respondents had a 49 percent favorable rating of Paterson. Elsewhere, Paterson's favorable rating was between 31 to 35 percent.
In the hypothetical Democratic primary between Paterson and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Cuomo wins 60 percent to 23 percent. Paterson would defeat Republican Rick Lazio 41 percent to 37 percent but Cuomo would win easily over Lazio 62 percent to 22 percent.
In the race for the seat currently held by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, 2009 New York City mayoral candidate Bill Thompson would defeat Gillibrand in a primary, according to the poll. Among registered Democrats, Thompson beats Gillibrand 41 percent to 28 percent.
What is interesting about this though is that Gillibrand fares better than Thompson against Rudy Giuliani in the general election. Giuliani would defeat Gillibrand 50 percent to 40 percent while the former New York City mayor would knock off Thompson by a 52 percent to 36 percent vote.
Gillibrand's favorable rating is similar to where it was when she was appointed to the post. She has a 26 percent favorable rating - only one percentage point higher than what it was in January 2009.
For Thompson, the favorable rating isn't much better. His favorable rating comes in at 25 percent, so while he might be ahead of Gillibrand in a primary, his favorable rating isn't higher and is right on par with Gillibrand. So while some question Gillibrand's viability as a candidate, her prospective challengers have never fared any better in this department.
But perhaps the most interesting finding in the poll was Governor Paterson's job approval rating. His favorable rating and electoral ratings aside, his job approval rating is at 40 percent. His disapproval rating is at 49 percent. So while his disapproval rating is still high, having the approval rating he has at this point is encouraging for him. It also might help him in his argument that he can run in 2010 and be a viable candidate, although other polls down the road might change that.
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