New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has a 74 – 14 percent job approval rating and commanding leads of 2-1 or more against the little-known Republican contenders in the race for Governor, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

With 40 percent of Republican voters undecided, former U.S. Senate candidate Rick Lazio leads in a primary for Governor with 34 percent, followed by Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, each with 11 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

Cuomo leads in possible general election:

* 55 – 26 percent over Lazio;

* 60 – 24 percent over Paladino;

* 57 – 24 percent over Levy.

In each matchup, Cuomo gets at least 80 percent of the Democratic vote, plus 20 percent or more of the Republican vote and 50 percent or more of the independent vote.

Cuomo’s 74 percent job approval, continuing a nine-month string of plus 70 scores, includes a 64 – 24 percent approval among Republicans.

“None of the Republican wannabes draws more than the generic Republican vote against Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, but let’s see what happens when we have a campaign,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“Besides burying the opposition, Cuomo continues to score high on job-performance.

“Who are those guys? Steve Levy and Carl Paladino don’t register at this stage. But neither of them is a shrinking violet. As they start to make noise, we’ll see if they can cut into Rick Lazio’s lead – for the questionable reward of facing Cuomo.”

New York State voters give Cuomo a 59 – 19 percent favorability rating. For Lazio, Paladino and Levy, 56 to 79 percent of voters say they don’t know enough about each candidate to form an opinion.

(Source: Quinnipiac University)