By Ryan Morden
Oswego, NY – Democrat Andrew Cuomo continues to hold a strong lead in the race for governor, according to the latest poll from the Siena Research Institute.
Voters prefer Cuomo, who has not declared his candidacy for governor, over republican Rick Lazio by nearly 40 points.
In a potential match up against democrat-turned-republican Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, Cuomo has an even wider lead.
Siena's Steve Greenberg said Cuomo's support has remained relatively the same since Gov. David Paterson dropped out of the race.
"The general election horse races that we ran last month, two months ago and run again this month, [show that] Andrew Cuomo's level of support really hasn't changed," said Greenberg, "He is the clear favorite. He is the odd-dog favorite in March to win an election in November. But a lot of politics, a lot of campaigning is going to happen between now and then."
Greenberg said in a republican primary match up, Lazio has more support than Levy. However, he said many republican voters are still undecided.
Meanwhile, Gov. Paterson's job performance rating hit 16 percent, an all time low.