Poll: Gillibrand Trailing Bill Thompson In Dem Primary -- Or Is She?

A new Quinnipiac poll says that appointed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is vulnerable to a primary challenge from outgoing New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson, who just came surprisingly close in his unsuccessful campaign for Mayor of New York City.

The numbers for the Democratic primary: Thompson 41%, Gillibrand 28%, with a ±3.7% margin of error. On the other hand, a Siena poll that was also released today shows Gillibrand ahead of Thompson by 32%-23%.

Thompson has likely benefitted from recent publicity from his mayoral campaign, in which he was frequently on New York TV (though not as much as Mike Bloomberg, obviously). By contrast, Gillibrand hasn't been on paid TV at all -- not one ad.

One thing the two polls both agree on, though, is that each Democrat currently trails Rudy Giuliani in a general election match-up. Quinnipiac has Rudy ahead of Gillibrand by 50%-40% and ahead of Thompson by 52%-36%. Siena had Rudy leading Gillibrand by 49%-42%, and leading Thompson by 56%-34%.