Poll finds New York governor is unpopular

NEW YORK, June 10 (UPI) -- A new poll indicates New York Gov. David Paterson is less popular than his predecessor Eliot Spitzer who resigned in disgrace for seeing a prostitute.

A telephone sampling of adults throughout the state found only 21 percent of New Yorkers have a favorable view of Gov. Paterson compared to 26 percent who see Spitzer in a positive light, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The poll by the Times, Cornell University and NY1 News found seven in 10 respondents said Paterson did not deserve to be elected New York governor in 2010.

Attorney Gen. Andrew Cuomo, a potential 2010 challenger to Paterson, received overwhelming approval of the way he was handling his job, the Times said.

The poll of 1,057 adults found New Yorkers doubt Paterson's ability to solve the state's economic problems.

It was conducted by telephone May 29 through June 3 and carried a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.