Cuomo
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, backed by the growing conservative Tea Party movement, has pulled within 6 percentage points of Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the state's attorney general, according to poll results released Wednesday.
Cuomo had the support of 49 percent of likely voters, compared to 43 percent for Paladino, a developer from Buffalo, a Quinnipiac University poll found.
The Republican Paladino is aided by a 4-1 margin among Tea Partiers, according to the poll results.
Only 18 percent of New York's likely voters consider themselves to be part of the Tea Party movement, but they back Paladino 77 to 18 percent, the poll found.
Paladino, who has promised to cut taxes and dismantle parts of the state bureaucracy that he calls obsolete, has tapped into support from the Tea Party, a loosely organized conservative movement that advocates smaller government, lower taxes and less regulation of private business. The party has been highly critical of President Barack Obama and his policies.
The independent survey released this week also found Cuomo leads 87 to 8 percent among Democrats, while Paladino leads 83 to 13 percent among Republicans and 49 to 43 percent among independent voters.
The poll found women back the attorney general 54 to 34 percent, while 49 percent of men are for Paladino and 46 percent back Cuomo.
Still, 7 percent of voters remain undecided and 21 percent of those who name a candidate say they might change their mind, interviewers found.
A previous Quinnipiac poll released Sept. 1 showed Cuomo -- the son of popular former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo -- with a huge lead of 60 percent to 23 percent over Paladino. That poll was released two weeks before the Republican's primary victory.
"The question was whether Carl Paladino would get a bounce from his big Republican primary victory. The answer is yes," Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement. "He's within shouting distance and -- you can count on it -- he will be shouting."
The Sept. 16-20 poll of 751 likely voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
The poll is the first general election survey of likely voters in the state in this election cycle, the polling institute noted.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by e-mail at jessica@legalnewsline.com.