Cuomo leads the 2010 governor race

With less than a year to the election for New York State governor, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo is already leading in the polls although he has yet to officially announce his candidacy.

The attorney general will most likely run on the Democratic ticket against incumbent Governor David A. Paterson, whose approval rating has been dipping drastically, especially among CUNY and SUNY students who would be affected by his proposed budget cuts.

“I’m not going to vote for him. I didn’t like him to begin with and this is just icing on the cake,” said senior Alice Livermore, an English literature major, in reference to the possible cuts.

Recent Siena College poll information published in The New York Times found that Cuomo has a 70 percent favorability rating in comparison to the governor’s, which is 33 percent. The same poll specified that 79 percent said that Paterson was doing only a fair to poor job as governor.

“If Cuomo wants to run, the ideal situation is to have Paterson not run at all,” said Doug Muzzio, a professor in Baruch’s School of Public Affairs.

Cuomo’s commanding lead in the polls is among one of the speculated reasons why ex-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani decided against running in the next election.

According to The New York Times, Giuliani would have “comfortably beaten” the governor, but would have likely had a tougher time competing against Cuomo, a chance he was not willing to take after losing in the 2008 Republican presidential primaries.

“In many ways it was a wise strategic move on his part, it was a way to get his name in the paper with polls showing him beating Paterson,” said Muzzio, who suspects Giuliani may want to run again for the presidency in 2012. “Getting beat [by Cuomo] wouldn’t be a good look.”

With Giuliani dropping out of the race, it leaves former Long Island congressman Rick Lazio as the only announced contender for the GOP.

“[Giuliani dropping out of the race] deprives the Republican party of their most visual member,” said David Birdsell, dean of the Baruch School of Public Affairs.

Ultimately there is no official competition for Governor Paterson with a little under a year until the primaries and election. Cuomo publicly continues to sidestep questions about whether he will be a candidate in the Democratic race for governor of New York, according to The Times.

“In a sense, bidding on a race that doesn’t exist yet is tough,” said Muzzio. “If it becomes a two-person race, I’d bet on Cuomo.”

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