Cuomo Has 19-Point Lead in New York Governor Race, Marist Says

Democrat Andrew Cuomo has a 19- point lead among likely voters in New York in his bid for governor against Republican Carl Paladino, according to a Marist College poll.

Fifty-two percent of likely voters favor Cuomo, the state’s attorney general, compared with 33 percent for Paladino, Marist College said today. Rick Lazio, the Conservative Party candidate, has the backing of 9 percent, the poll showed.

“Andrew Cuomo is ahead, and right now, this is not a close race,” Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, New York, said in a statement. “He is being bolstered by the Lazio factor, but he is just above 50 percent among likely voters, and you can’t overlook the enthusiasm Republicans are bringing to this election cycle.”

Paladino, 64, is a Buffalo real-estate developer and Tea Party supporter. He won an upset Sept. 14 in the Republican primary, beating Lazio, the candidate selected by party leaders. With an “I’m Mad as Hell” slogan, he has promised to clean up Albany with “a baseball bat” and to cut taxes 10 percent and spending 20 percent in his first year as governor.

The telephone survey of 915 registered voters, 617 of whom said they’re likely to vote, was conducted Sept. 19-22. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for the likely voters.

Results from a Siena Research Institute poll released on Sept. 23 showed Cuomo backed by 57 percent of registered voters, with 24 percent favoring Paladino and 8 percent for Lazio.

The 19-point lead for Cuomo, 52, contrasts with a Quinnipiac University survey published Sept. 22 that showed him leading by 6 percentage points. Quinnipiac polled registered voters who said they were likely to cast a ballot.

--With assistance from Michael Quint in Albany, New York. Editors: Mark Tannenbaum, Stephen Merelman

To contact the reporter on this story: Esme E. Deprez in New York at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at [email protected]