Cuomo Over Crazy Carl by 18 Points, New Poll Shows

The poll that found New York's race for governor within six points a month ago now gives Democrat Andrew Cuomo an 18-point edge over Republican Carl Paladino.

The Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters shows, however, that among New Yorkers who describe themselves as "angry" voters, most prefer Paladino.

Yet Quinnipiac poll Director Maurice Carroll says Paladino's anger is proving too angry for many New York voters. Less than a third — 30 percent — of likely voters now think Paladino is right for the governor's job. Fifty-four percent said he didn't have the right personality to be governor.

"Paladino's 'angry man' style gets a lot of attention, but he comes up negative on the personality test," Carroll said. "Less than a third of New Yorkers think he's right for the governor's job. Two-thirds say Cuomo is 'Mr. Personality.'"

The poll gives Cuomo a 55 percent to 37 percent lead.

In the Sept. 22 poll, Cuomo had an edge of 49 percent to 43 percent.

A Siena College poll released Tuesday found Cuomo with a 56 percent to 32 percent lead among likely voters.

Both polls were conducted after last week's confrontation between Paladino and a New York Post reporter was captured on video and replayed statewide for days. Although Paladino insists he was defending his 10-year-old daughter from tabloid photographers who had invaded her privacy and speaking out against a reporter's bias for Cuomo — both of which were denied by the newspaper — the angry exchange on Sept. 29 derailed what had been a string of Paladino wins.

For Thursday's poll, Quinnipiac questioned 1,141 likely voters from Oct. 1-5. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 points.