Poll: Gillibrand Posts Solid Numbers In New York, Paterson Sinking

A new Siena poll of New York has some good news for Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and some bad news for the man who appointed her to the Senate, Gov. David Paterson.

Gillibrand, who has had to build up name recognition in a large state where she was unknown a year ago, has a 34% favorable rating and 28% unfavorable. One possible sign of trouble is that only 30% say they would vote to re-elect her, with 40% preferring someone else. However, this can be partly explained by her very low numbers among Republicans, who are solidly against her by a margin of 55%-23%. The 30% undecided figure is also still very high, and the cross-tabs show higher undecided numbers among such heavily Democratic groups such as African-Americans (38%) and Latinos (41%).

The good news for Gillibrand is that she scores well against her potential opponents.

In a Democratic primary against former Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN), Gillibrand leads by 42%-16%. In general election match-ups, she leads former Nassau County legislator Bruce Blakeman (the only declared candidate against her) by 51%-24%, and leads Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman by 49%-29%. Former Gov. George Pataki does lead Gillibrand by 47%-41% -- but this is a narrower margin than last month, when he led by 51%-38%.

Paterson's numbers continue to suffer. He has only a 35% favorable rating, to 55% unfavorable, and only 19% would elect him compared to 64% who want someone else. In a Democratic primary for governor, he trails state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo by 64%-22%.

Paterson also trails in a general election match-up against former Rep. Rick Lazio, who leads Paterson by 46%-39%. Last month, the two of them were tied 42%-42%. By comparison, Cuomo leads Lazio by 63%-26%.

From the pollster's analysis: "The only good news for Paterson is that voters did not believe the rumors that had been swirling around Albany for weeks that a story would break forcing his resignation. Two-thirds of voters said they didn't believe the rumors, while only 22 percent of voter (sic) believed that the Governor may very well have acted inappropriately in office."