Maurice Carroll, Director

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute

Rubenstein Associates, Inc.,

Public Relations
Pat Smith (212) 843-8026

FOR RELEASE: JULY 28, 2010

POLITICS THWARTS ATT’Y GENERAL IN FIGHTING CORRUPTION,

NEW YORK STATE VOTERS TELL QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL;
DEMS HAVE NO CLUE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL CANDIDATES
Only 30 percent of New York State voters say giving the next Attorney General more power to
fight corruption in state government would be effective, while 54 percent say political
considerations would prevent the Attorney General from using this power to clean up Albany,
according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
In fact, 51 percent of New York State voters say the Attorney General already has the
right amount of power to fight Albany corruption, while 32 percent say more power is needed,
the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.
Incumbent Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been “about right” fighting corruption,
49 percent of voters say, while 38 percent say he has not been aggressive enough. Independent
voters split 43 – 43 percent on whether Cuomo has been too aggressive or about right fighting
corruption.
Cuomo still has a 69 – 17 percent approval rating and tops either Republican contender
more than 2 - 1 in the race for Governor:
• Beating Rick Lazio 56 – 26 percent;
• Topping Carl Paladino 55 – 25 percent.
Lazio leads Paladino in a Republican primary 39 – 23 percent, with 33 percent
undecided.
“It’s all coming up roses for Cuomo. While he gets OK grades for battling corruption,
his overall job approval rating is still stratospheric. And he continues to trounce either of the
Republican wannabes, Rick Lazio or Carl Paladino,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
-more-
Quinnipiac University Poll/July 28, 2010 – page 2
New York State government is dysfunctional, voters say 75 – 20 percent, and voters say
53 – 35 percent their own state senator should be swept out of office in a general house-cleaning.
By a similar 49 – 33 percent margin, voters say their State Assembly member should go, also.
New York State voters approve 48 – 26 percent of the job U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is
doing, inching her up to her highest approval rating ever.
Sen. Gillibrand leads either of her two Republican challengers:
• 48 – 27 percent over Bruce Blakeman;
• 49 – 24 percent over David Malpass.
In a Republican primary, Blakeman tops Malpass 19 – 12 percent, but 62 percent are
undecided.
The Democratic primary for Attorney General is even more uncertain: When asked if
they knew who they would vote for, with no names offered, 81 percent of Democrats said, “no.”
Only three percent could name any of the five candidates while 9 percent offered names of
people whose names will not appear on the September 14 Democratic primary ballot.
When Democrats are offered the names of the five contenders for Attorney General, 11
percent pick Kathleen Rice, with no one else topping 5 percent and 73 percent undecided.
“Suppose they gave a primary and nobody came. Believe it or not, the polls will be open
September 14, but most New Yorkers – Democrats and Republicans alike – don’t seem to be
following the primary races for Governor, Attorney General or U.S. Senator,” Carroll said.
“On the Republican side, Rick Lazio leads Carl Paladino but one-third of voters don’t
know who they’ll pick for governor. In the Republican Senate race, almost two-thirds are
undecided,” Carroll said.
“On the Democratic side, four out of five voters can’t name a choice for Attorney
General. When Quinnipiac University pollsters give them the five candidates’ names, only
Kathleen Rice edges into double digits - barely.”
From July 20 – 26, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,165 New York State registered
voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points. The survey includes 380 Republicans
with a margin of error of +/- 5 percentage points and 441 Democrats with a margin of error of +/-
4.7 percentage points.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and
nationwide as a public service and for research.

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For more data or RSS feed– http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us
on Twitter.

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1. (If registered Republican) If the 2010 Republican primary for Governor were being held
today and the candidates were Rick Lazio and Carl Paladino, for whom would you vote?

REGISTERED REPS

Lazio 39%
Paladino 23
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 4
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 2
DK/NA 33

TREND: (If registered Republican) If the 2010 Republican primary for Governor were being
held today and the candidates were Rick Lazio and Carl Paladino, for whom would you vote?

REGISTERED REPS.......
Jul 28 Jun 22 Apr 13
2010 2010 2010

Lazio 39 46 34
Levy na na 11
Paladino 23 17 11
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 4 5 2
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 2 4 2
DK/NA 33 28 40

2. (If registered Republican) If the 2010 Republican primary for United States Senator
were being held today and the candidates were David Malpass and Bruce Blakeman, for whom
would you vote?

REGISTERED REPS

Malpass 12%
Blakeman 19
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 3
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 4
DK/NA 62

TREND: (If registered Republican) If the 2010 Republican primary for United States
Senator were being held today and the candidates were David Malpass and Bruce Blakeman,
for whom would you vote?

REGISTERED REPS
Jul 28 Jun 22
2010 2010

Malpass 12 11
Blakeman 19 14
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 3 4
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 4 3
DK/NA 62 67

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3. (If registered Democrat) As you may know, there is a Democratic primary for State
Attorney General in New York this year. Do you know who you will vote for? (If YES) Who?

REGISTERED DEMS

No/don't know 81%

Yes/Eric Schneiderman -
Yes/Kathleen Rice 2
Yes/Richard Brodsky -
Yes/Eric Dinallo 1
Yes/Sean Coffey -
Yes/any other name 9
WLDN'T VOTE 2
Refused 6

4. (If registered Democrat) The five candidates in the Democratic primary for State
Attorney General are Eric Schneiderman, Kathleen Rice, Richard Brodsky, Eric Dinallo,
and Sean Coffey. If the Democratic primary for State Attorney General were being held
today, for whom would you vote?

REGISTERED DEMS

Schneiderman 4%
Rice 11
Brodsky 5
Dinallo 2
Coffey 3
SMONE ELSE(VOL) -
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 3
DK/NA 73

5. If the 2010 election for Governor were being held today and the candidates were
Andrew Cuomo the Democrat and Rick Lazio the Republican, for whom would you vote?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Cuomo 56% 18% 86% 49% 52% 59%

Lazio 26 70 6 23 29 23
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 2 1 - 4 2 2
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 2 - - 4 2 1
DK/NA 14 11 8 21 15 14

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Cuomo 48% 69% 48%

Lazio 30 15 37
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 2 2 2
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 2 2 1
DK/NA 18 12 12

TREND: If the 2010 election for Governor were being held today and the candidates were
Andrew Cuomo the Democrat and Rick Lazio the Republican, for whom would you vote?

Jul 28 Jun 22 Apr 13 Feb 3 Dec 15 Oct 21

2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009

Cuomo 56 58 55 57 62 61
Lazio 26 26 26 25 22 22
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 2 2 2 1 1 2
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 2 1 2 2 1 2
DK/NA 14 13 15 11 14 13

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6. If the 2010 election for Governor were being held today and the candidates were
Andrew Cuomo the Democrat and Carl Paladino the Republican, for whom would you vote?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Cuomo 55% 21% 85% 47% 54% 57%

Paladino 25 63 6 23 28 22
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 1 - - 2 2 1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 2 1 - 4 2 2
DK/NA 16 15 9 23 14 19

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Cuomo 44% 70% 52%

Paladino 34 12 30
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 1 2 -
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 2 2 -
DK/NA 19 13 17

TREND: If the 2010 election for Governor were being held today and the candidates were
Andrew Cuomo the Democrat and Carl Paladino the Republican, for whom would you vote?

Jul 28 Jun 22 Apr 13

2010 2010 2010

Cuomo 55 59 60
Paladino 25 23 24
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 1 2 1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 2 2 2
DK/NA 16 15 14

7. If the 2010 election for United States Senator were being held today and the
candidates were Kirsten Gillibrand the Democrat and Bruce Blakeman the Republican,
for whom would you vote?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Gillibrand 48% 16% 78% 37% 46% 50%

Blakeman 27 63 6 28 31 23
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 2 1 - 5 3 1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 2 2 1 2 2 2
DK/NA 21 18 15 29 18 24

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Gillibrand 45% 58% 38%

Blakeman 30 17 37
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 1 4 1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 1 3 1
DK/NA 23 17 25

TREND: If the 2010 election for United States Senator were being held today and the
candidates were Kirsten Gillibrand the Democrat and Bruce Blakeman the Republican, for
whom would you vote?
Jul 28 Jun 22 Apr 13 Feb 3
2010 2010 2010 2010

Gillibrand 48 46 47 44
Blakeman 27 26 25 27
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 2 1 1 1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 2 1 3 2
DK/NA 21 26 24 26

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8. If the 2010 election for United States Senator were being held today and the
candidates were Kirsten Gillibrand the Democrat and David Malpass the Republican,
for whom would you vote?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Gillibrand 49% 18% 79% 37% 48% 50%

Malpass 24 62 4 24 28 21
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 2 1 1 5 3 1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 1 2 - 1 2 1
DK/NA 23 17 17 32 20 27

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Gillibrand 45% 60% 37%

Malpass 29 14 32
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 1 5 -
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 1 3 -
DK/NA 25 18 30

TREND: If the 2010 election for United States Senator were being held today and the
candidates were Kirsten Gillibrand the Democrat and David Malpass the Republican, for
whom would you vote?

Jul 28 Jun 22
2010 2010

Gillibrand 49 47
Malpass 24 25
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 2 2
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 1 1
DK/NA 23 25

9. Do you approve or disapprove of the way David Paterson is handling his job as Governor?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 31% 23% 33% 33% 37% 26%

Disapprove 57 72 54 54 52 60
DK/NA 12 5 13 12 10 14

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Approve 31% 36% 25%

Disapprove 58 51 64
DK/NA 12 13 11

TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way David Paterson is handling his job as
Governor? (*Low also 21% Mar 2010)

APPROVE....... DIS...
High Low High
Jul 28 Jun 22 Apr 13 Mar 10 Aug 6 Mar 10 Apr 13
2010 2010 2010 2010 2008 2010* 2010

Approve 31 29 25 21 64 21 25
Disapprove 57 62 65 61 14 61 65
DK/NA 12 9 10 17 22 17 10

10. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Kirsten Gillibrand is handling her job as
United States Senator?

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 Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 48% 26% 67% 40% 43% 52%

Disapprove 26 48 11 28 33 19
DK/NA 26 26 22 32 24 28

TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Kirsten Gillibrand is handling her job as
United States Senator?

APPROVE.......
High Low
Jul 28 Jun 22 Apr 13 Feb 3 Dec 15 Jul 28 Feb 17
2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2010 2009

Approve 48 44 47 42 40 48 28
Disapprove 26 27 25 28 21 26 10
DK/NA 26 29 29 31 39 26 62

11. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Charles Schumer is handling his job as United
States Senator?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 55% 32% 74% 48% 55% 55%

Disapprove 33 59 15 36 39 27
DK/NA 12 9 11 15 6 17

TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Charles Schumer is handling his job as
United States Senator? (*High app also 69% Oct 2001)

APPROVE....... DIS...
High Low High
Jul 28 Jun 22 Apr 13 Feb 3 Dec 8 Apr 15 Jul 28
2010 2010 2010 2010 2004* 1999 2010

Approve 55 60 61 58 69 51 55
Disapprove 33 28 26 30 16 22 33
DK/NA 12 12 13 12 15 28 12

13. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 16% 9% 27% 11% 13% 19%

Disapprove 74 84 62 78 80 69
DK/NA 10 7 10 11 7 12

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Approve 12% 23% 13%

Disapprove 80 67 74
DK/NA 8 10 13

TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job?
(*Low app also 16% Jun 2010 & Feb 2010)

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 APPROVE...... DIS...
High Low High
Jul 28 Jun 23 Apr 14 Feb 3 Apr 4 Jul 28 Jun 23
2010 2010 2010 2010 2007 2010* 2010

Approve 16 16 21 16 34 16 16
Disapprove 74 76 68 71 43 74 76
DK/NA 10 7 10 13 23 10 7

14. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Andrew Cuomo is handling his job as State
Attorney General?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 69% 50% 85% 66% 69% 70%

Disapprove 17 36 6 16 19 15
DK/NA 14 14 9 18 12 16

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Approve 66% 75% 67%

Disapprove 19 14 18
DK/NA 16 12 15

TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Andrew Cuomo is handling his job as State
Attorney General?
APPROVE....... DIS...
High Low High
Jul 28 Jun 22 Apr 13 Mar 3 Feb 17 Feb 13 Jul 31
2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2007 2007

Approve 69 72 74 70 76 42 68
Disapprove 17 16 14 16 11 16 19
DK/NA 14 12 12 14 13 42 14

15. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Sheldon Silver is handling his job as State
Assembly Speaker?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 26% 23% 37% 17% 23% 29%

Disapprove 44 48 34 51 57 33
DK/NA 30 29 29 32 20 38

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Approve 24% 33% 17%

Disapprove 45 42 46
DK/NA 31 25 36

TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Sheldon Silver is handling his job as
State Assembly Speaker?
APPROVE.......
High Low
Jul 28 Jun 23 Apr 14 Apr 6 Feb 17 Dec 24 Apr 14
2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2008 2010

Approve 26 26 25 28 30 38 25
Disapprove 44 39 40 36 33 34 40
DK/NA 30 34 35 36 37 38 35

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16. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York State
today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very
dissatisfied?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Very satisfied 3% 1% 4% 2% 4% 1%
Smwht satisfied 20 13 29 19 18 22
Smwht dissatisfied 32 29 38 25 29 35
Very dissatisfied 45 57 28 53 49 41
DK/NA - - - - - -

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Very satisfied 1% 5% 1%
Smwht satisfied 11 28 24
Smwht dissatisfied 28 38 29
Very dissatisfied 59 29 45
DK/NA - - -

TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York State
today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very
dissatisfied?

VERY+SMWHT SAT
High Low
Jul 28 Jun 23 Apr 14 Feb 3 Dec 16 Feb 25 Jun 23
2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 1998 2010

Very satisfied 3 1 2 2 2 13 1
Smwht satisfied 20 18 20 24 22 60 18
Smwht dissatisfied 32 33 32 35 37 20 33
Very dissatisfied 45 47 46 39 38 7 47
DK/NA - 1 1 1 - 1 1

17. Which comes closer to your view about your state Senator - A) there are a lot of
problems in Albany but your state Senator has done a good job and deserves to be
reelected or B) almost everyone in the State Senate should be thrown out including your
state Senator?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Deserves reelection 35% 20% 50% 28% 29% 39%

Shld be thrown out 53 71 38 59 62 45
DK/NA 13 9 12 13 9 16

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Deserves reelection 29% 40% 36%

Shld be thrown out 59 47 51
DK/NA 12 13 13

TREND: Which comes closer to your view about your State Senator - there are a lot of
problems in Albany but your State Senator has done a good job and deserves to be
reelected or almost everyone in the State Senate should be thrown out including your
State Senator?
Jul 28 Jun 23 Apr 14 Dec 16 Aug 18
2010 2010 2010 2009 2009

Deserves reelection 35 36 39 41 40
Shld be thrown out 53 51 50 46 49
DK/NA 13 13 11 13 11

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18. Which comes closer to your view about your State Assembly member - A) there are a lot
of problems in Albany but your State Assembly member has done a good job and deserves to
be reelected or B) almost everyone in the State Assembly should be thrown out including
your State Assembly member?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Deserves reelection 33% 24% 48% 23% 28% 38%

Shld be thrown out 49 62 32 60 58 42
DK/NA 17 14 20 17 14 20

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Deserves reelection 31% 41% 26%

Shld be thrown out 55 43 51
DK/NA 14 16 23

TREND: Which comes closer to your view about your State Assembly member – there are a lot
of problems in Albany but your State Assembly member has done a good job and deserves to
be reelected or almost everyone in the State Assembly should be thrown out including your
State Assembly member?

Jul 28 Jun 23 Apr 14

2010 2010 2010

Deserves reelection 33 34 35
Shld be thrown out 49 50 48
DK/NA 17 16 17

19. Do you approve or disapprove of the way David Paterson is handling – the state budget?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 31% 22% 33% 34% 41% 23%

Disapprove 59 71 56 55 51 66
DK/NA 10 7 11 11 8 11

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Approve 33% 35% 24%

Disapprove 59 56 64
DK/NA 8 9 13

TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way David Paterson is handling the state
budget? (*handled the state budget)

APPROVE......
High Low
Jul 28 Feb 4 Aug 18 Apr 6 Feb 18 Apr 17 Apr 6
2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2008* 2009

Approve 31 33 25 19 36 52 19
Disapprove 59 57 61 70 45 18 70
DK/NA 10 10 15 11 19 29 11

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20. Some people have said that New York State government is dysfunctional. Do you agree
or disagree?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Agree 75% 83% 66% 81% 79% 72%

Disagree 20 14 31 14 18 23
DK/NA 4 3 3 5 3 5

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Agree 84% 63% 80%

Disagree 12 33 16
DK/NA 4 4 5

TREND: Some people have said that New York state government is dysfunctional. Do you
agree or disagree?

Jul 28 Jun 23 Dec 16 Aug 18 Jun 22 Apr 7

2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2009

Agree 75 83 76 77 78 71
Disagree 20 14 19 19 18 23
DK/NA 4 3 5 3 4 6

21. When it comes to prosecuting corruption in state government, do you think the New
York State Attorney General should have more power, less power, or has the right amount
of power?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

More power 32% 29% 33% 34% 34% 30%

Less power 7 11 4 8 10 5
Has right amount 51 49 54 50 48 53
DK/NA 10 11 9 9 8 12

UpStat NYC Suburbs

More power 31% 36% 29%

Less power 8 5 9
Has right amount 51 51 50
DK/NA 10 9 12

22. If the New York State Attorney General had more power to prosecute corruption, do you
think this would help clean up state government or do you think political considerations
would prevent the Attorney General from using this new power?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Help clean up 30% 23% 35% 30% 29% 31%

Prevented from use 54 63 45 56 58 50
DK/NA 16 13 20 14 13 19

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Help clean up 26% 37% 26%

Prevented from use 58 48 55
DK/NA 16 16 19

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23. When it comes to fighting corruption in Albany, do you think Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo has been too aggressive, not aggressive enough, or about
right?

Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Too aggressive 3% 3% 3% 2% 3% 2%
Not enough 38 46 26 43 39 37
About right 49 41 61 43 50 48
DK/NA 11 10 10 12 8 14

UpStat NYC Suburbs

Too aggressive 1% 3% 4%
Not enough 39 34 41
About right 49 51 43
DK/NA 11 11 12

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