Two new polls of the New York gubernatorial race show Democrat Andrew Cuomo leading Republican nominee Carl Paladino — though by widely varying margins.
A SurveyUSA poll shows Cuomo leading Paladino 49.0%-40.0% among likely voters, while a Siena poll puts Cuomo much farther ahead, with a 33-point lead over Paladino among registered voters.
This is the first SurveyUSA poll of the race. But Paladino has gained ground since the last Siena poll, taken in mid-August, when he trailed Cuomo by 42 points, 56%-14%. (Rick Lazio polled at 16%).
The SurveyUSA poll fits in with some other recent polls that show Paladino making gains since the primary last week. A recent Rasmussen poll placed Cuomo ahead 54%-38%, compared to July, when Rasmussen showed Cuomo leading 58%-29%. A Quinnipiac poll yesterday put Paladino down by only six points.
And a New York Times article yesterday presents a Democratic nominee desperate to combat “Mr. Paladino’s attack on Mr. Cuomo as the favored candidate of the political elite.”
“We’re all angry!” the Times reports Cuomo told reporters. “OK. What do you want to do? We can have an anger party, celebrate our anger. Or we can say let’s take that anger, let’s take the energy, let’s focus it and actually do something to correct the problem.”
But the latest Siena poll calls into question some of Paladino’s perceived gains. The other polls had not taken into account a possible run by Rick Lazio on the Conservative Party line, which he is still reportedly considering. Siena shows Cuomo at 57%, Paladino at 24%, and Lazio at 8%.
The TPM Poll Average shows Cuomo still ahead of Paladino 52.6%-36.6%.
