Lazio's Lead Over Paladino for Governor Shrinks Among New York Republicans
Former congressman Rick Lazio’s lead in the race for the Republican nomination for New York governor is shrinking as support for real-estate developer Carl Paladino has doubled in two months, a Quinnipiac University survey said.
By 47 percent to 35 percent, likely Republican voters favored Lazio, who was selected by party officials. Paladino nominated himself at the Republican state convention in July and used petitions to secure a place on the Sept. 14 primary ballot.
About 18 percent of Republican voters are undecided, the survey said. Among those with a preference, 62 percent of Paladino’s supporters said their minds were “made up” compared with 42 percent of Lazio’s backers. Lazio, who is from Long Island, led Paladino 46 percent to 17 percent in a June poll.
“With many of his supporters open to changing their minds, Rick Lazio has a shaky lead,” Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in Hamden, Connecticut, said in a statement.
Paladino, from the Buffalo area, says he’ll clean up Albany with a “a baseball bat” instead of Lazio’s broom, and favors state action to cut local property taxes, not just limit future increases as Lazio proposed. New York’s $133.8 billion budget was delayed four months while lawmakers debated how to close a $9.2 billion deficit.
The winner of the Republican primary will face Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the son of former Governor Mario Cuomo. Andrew Cuomo holds a large lead over both Republicans.
Republicans Outnumbered
In New York, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost 2-to-1, Cuomo beats Lazio by 57 percent to 25 percent and Paladino by 54 to 24 percent, according to a Quinnipiac survey released yesterday.
None of the five Democratic candidates for attorney general, to replace Cuomo, has strong name-recognition among voters, the latest Quinnipiac poll found.
When registered Democrats were asked who they would vote for, 77 percent said they didn’t know and 8 percent named someone who isn’t on the primary ballot. Among the candidates running, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice was favored by 4 percent, the most of any of the five. State Senator Eric Schneiderman of Manhattan was named by 3 percent.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted Aug. 23-31. It surveyed 359 likely Republican primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 percentage points, and 866 Democrats with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Quint in Albany, New York, at mquint@bloomberg.net.
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