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The poll of Massachusetts residents, conducted July 15 to July 21, also showed a slim majority of respondents - 52 percent - now have an unfavorable view of Patrick personally, while 36 percent hold a favorable opinion. The drop is especially pronounced among independents, who outnumber either Democrats and Republicans in the state: just 17 percent in this group view Patrick favorably.

"Seven months ago, a Globe poll showed that 52 percent of independents viewed the governor favorably," the Boston Globe noted.

Patrick's struggles are also being seen in the hypothetical matchups between the governor and potential November 2010 Republican opponents. Patrick trails Charles D. Baker, a former chief executive of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, by 35 percent to 41 percent. Patrick is in a virtual tie, trailing 40 percent to 41 percent, with former Turnpike Authority Board member Christy Mihos, who ran as an independent in the 2006 election won by Patrick and took 7 percent of the vote. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

This creates an opportunity for the Republicans, who have had unusual success in Massachusetts' races for governor, given the Democrats' overall dominance of state politics. Patrick's 2006 win for the seat left open by the retirement of Mitt Romney broke a four-election, 16-year hold for Republicans on the state's top job.

But Patrick's slippage may not necessarily mean a Republican takeover. State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, a Democrat-turned-Independent, runs even with Patrick in a three-way matchup that also includes a Republican candidate.