The latest numbers suggest Governor Andrew Cuomo could win by a landslide in his bid for re-election this fall. A Quinnipiac University poll out Wednesday shows Cuomo ahead of his Republican rival, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, by a two-to-one margin, 56 percent to 28 percent. Pollster Mickey Carroll says that is essentially unchanged from Quinnipiac's poll in May.
Carroll says so far, Astorino is earning only minimal support from voters in heavily-Democratic New York.
"It's been two-to-one since it started," Carroll told WBFO Albany correspondent Karen DeWitt.
"Generally, [Republicans] get about a third," Carroll added. "But is it a real election? The Quinnipiac numbers say at this stage of the game, unless something happens, and something could always happen, no."
Astorino was in Buffalo Tuesday to outline his economic platform. It includes cutting taxes and spending and allowing for natural gas drilling using the controversial method of hydraulic fracturing.
Cuomo will face a primary challenge from Fordham University law professor Zephyr Teachout. Carroll says Teachout is still largely unknown to New York voters, with 88 percent saying they don't know enough about her to form an opinion. But he says now that Teachout has survived a court challenge to her eligibility, she could make some noise in next month's primary.
"The Quinnipiac numbers say that nobody knows who she is. I have a feeling, as somebody who's watched politics for a long time, that she could embarrass him. Not beat him, not even get big huge numbers, but get enough numbers to embarrass him. I think he's very smart in trying to get her off the ballot," Carroll said.
Carroll says the recent controversy surrounding Governor Cuomo's possible interference with a state ethics commission has not negatively affected his popularity or his job performance rating with voters. But he says the issue will linger into the fall.
