After hitting rock bottom in May, New York Gov. David A. Paterson's favorability ratings continue to inch up. The Democrat, who is up for election in 2010, was rated favorably by 36 percent of registered voters and unfavorably by 56 percent, in a new poll from Siena Research Institute, conducted July 13 through 16, . That's an increase from 31 percent favorability in June 2009 and 27 percent in May.
Paterson does not appear to have been hurt by the chaos consuming the state legislature, which was deadlocked by a leadership struggle over the past month. In fact, 64 percent of voters surveyed gave Paterson credit for playing some role in resolving the state Senate fight.
Even so, 69 percent of respondents said they would prefer to elect someone else in 2010, while just 17 percent said they would vote for him.
And Paterson still trails well behind both Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in hypothetical gubernatorial match-ups. In a Democratic primary, Cuomo leads Paterson 65 percent to 23 percent. And Giuliani would defeat Paterson in a general election match-up 57 percent to 34 percent.
The survey result for a general election race between Giuliani and Cuomo is far closer, with Cuomo leading Giuliani 49 percent to 44 percent, just beyond the 3.9 percent margin of error. Neither Giuliani nor Cuomo has indicated they are prepared to enter the race.
One Republican who does intend to run, 2006 Senate candidate and former Rep. Rick Lazio, has work to do to build up his name recognition. Fifty-three percent had no opinion of him, 25 percent ranked him favorably and 22 percent unfavorably. That is an improvement over his ratings in January, when 64 percent had no opinion of Lazio.
Giuliani leads Lazio in a head-to-head GOP match-up, 75 percent to 14 percent. Paterson, however, leads Lazio by just two percentage points - 41 to 39 percent, with 20 percent undecided.
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