Maurice Carroll, Director

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute

Rubenstein Associates, Inc.,

Public Relations
Pat Smith (212) 843-8026

FOR RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

LITTLE-KNOWN NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL CANDIDATES TIED,

QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL FINDS;
GILLIBRAND UP BY ONLY 6 POINTS
Two little-known candidates for New York State Attorney General, Democratic State Sen. Eric
Schneiderman and Republican Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan, are tied among
likely voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Schneiderman gets 37 percent to Donovan’s 36 percent, with 27 percent undecided, the
independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey, conducted by live interviewers,
finds. And 46 percent of those who name a candidate say they might change their mind. This
first likely voter general election survey in New York in this election cycle can not be compared
with earlier surveys of registered voters.
Among likely voters, 77 percent say they don’t know enough about Schneiderman to
form an opinion and 86 percent don’t know enough about Donovan.
Democrats back Schneiderman 71 – 9 percent while Donovan leads 76 – 6 percent among
Republicans and 33 – 25 percent among independent voters.
“State Sen. Eric Schneiderman and District Attorney Dan Donovan both will try to get
better acquainted with the voters and perhaps try to define ‘the other guy’ in a negative fashion,”
said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
“In the past, New Yorkers tended to split their ticket, voting for at least one statewide
official from a party other than the governor’s party, so this race is anybody’s guess.”
In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand tops Republican Joseph
DioGuardi 48 – 42 percent.
Sen. Gillibrand leads 86 – 9 percent among Democrats while DioGuardi leads 88 – 8
percent among Republicans. Independent voters split with 42 percent for DioGuardi and 41
percent for Gillibrand.
-more-
Quinnipiac University Poll/September 22, 2010 – page 2
New York State voters approve 49 – 37 percent of the job Gillibrand is doing and give her
a 43 – 32 percent favorability rating. For DioGuardi, 61 percent haven’t heard enough about him
to form an opinion.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer leads his little-known Republican challenger, Jay
Townsend, 54 – 38 percent.
Voters approve 55 – 39 percent of the job Schumer is doing and give him a 55 – 37 percent
favorability. For Townsend, 70 percent don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.
“New York has two Democratic U.S. Senators and the numbers suggest it’s likely to stay
that way,” Carroll said.
“Sen. Charles Schumer has a commanding lead and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is closing in on
the magic 50 percent point. But DioGuardi makes a race of it against her, even though three-fifths
of New Yorkers don’t know much about him.”
Democratic State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli leads Republican challenger Harry
Wilson 46 – 30 percent with 24 percent undecided and 40 percent who might change their mind.
Likely voters know little about these candidates: 66 percent haven’t formed an opinion
about DiNapoli and 91 percent haven’t formed an opinion of Wilson.
President Obama’s Approval
New York State likely voters give President Barack Obama a split 47 – 48 percent job
approval rating. Democrats approve 83 – 10 percent, but the President gets a 93 – 7 percent
disapproval from Republicans and a 53 – 43 percent thumbs down from independent voters.
“As they battle for the Governor’s Mansion, the U.S. Senate seats and the Comptroller and
Attorney General jobs, New York Democrats should not count on President Obama’s popularity to
help them,” Carroll said.
From September 16 – 20, Quinnipiac University surveyed 751 New York State likely voters,
with a margin of error of +/- 3.6 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.
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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4. If the election for United States Senator were being held today, and the candidates
were Kirsten Gillibrand the Democrat and Joe DioGuardi the Republican, for whom would
you vote?(If undecided) If you had to choose today, would you vote for Gillibrand or
DioGuardi? This table includes "Leaners".

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Gillibrand 48 8 86 41 43 53 23 54
DioGuardi 42 88 9 42 45 37 75 34
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 2 - - 5 2 - - 2
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) - - - - - - - -
DK/NA 9 4 6 12 9 10 2 9

4a. (If candidate choice q4) Is your mind made up, or do you think you might change
your mind before the election?

LIKELY VOTERS.........
CAND CHOICE Q4
Tot KG JD

Made up 75 76 73
Might change 25 24 26
DK/NA - - 1

5. Is your opinion of - Kirsten Gillibrand favorable, unfavorable or haven't you heard

enough about her?

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Favorable 43 14 71 36 40 46 25 47
Unfavorable 32 64 7 38 38 24 56 27
Hvn't hrd enough 24 20 22 25 21 29 19 25
REFUSED 1 2 - 2 1 2 1 1

6. Is your opinion of - Joe DioGuardi favorable, unfavorable or haven't you heard

enough about him?

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Favorable 26 59 11 23 27 25 45 21
Unfavorable 12 2 20 7 12 11 2 14
Hvn't hrd enough 61 38 67 68 61 61 52 63
REFUSED 2 1 2 2 1 3 - 2

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7. If the election for United States Senator were being held today, and the candidates
were Charles Schumer the Democrat and Jay Townsend the Republican, for whom would you
vote?(If undecided) If you had to choose today, would you vote for Schumer or Townsend?
This table includes "Leaners".

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Schumer 54 13 92 49 49 61 20 63
Townsend 38 83 2 42 46 29 76 30
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 1 - 1 1 1 - - 1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) - - - - - - - -
DK/NA 7 4 5 8 5 10 4 6

7a. (If candidate choice q7) Is your mind made up, or do you think you might change
your mind before the election?

LIKELY VOTERS.........
CAND CHOICE Q7
Tot CS JT

Made up 81 79 84
Might change 19 21 16
DK/NA - - -

8. Is your opinion of - Charles Schumer favorable, unfavorable or haven't you heard

enough about him?

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Favorable 55 19 90 50 50 61 22 62
Unfavorable 37 75 5 41 44 27 67 31
Hvn't hrd enough 8 6 5 7 5 11 10 7
REFUSED 1 - - 2 1 1 - 1

9. Is your opinion of - Jay Townsend favorable, unfavorable or haven't you heard

enough about him?

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Favorable 21 46 6 18 23 18 31 18
Unfavorable 9 3 16 6 8 10 4 10
Hvn't hrd enough 70 51 77 76 68 72 65 71
REFUSED 1 - 1 1 1 1 - 1

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11. Is your opinion of - Eric Schneiderman favorable, unfavorable or haven't you
heard enough about him?

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Favorable 14 6 23 9 14 13 8 16
Unfavorable 9 10 8 9 10 7 8 9
Hvn't hrd enough 77 84 68 82 76 78 84 75
REFUSED 1 - 1 - - 1 - 0

12. Is your opinion of - Dan Donovan favorable, unfavorable or haven't you

heard enough about him?

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Favorable 9 13 9 7 10 7 11 8
Unfavorable 5 4 7 2 6 3 - 6
Hvn't hrd enough 86 81 84 90 83 89 89 85
REFUSED 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 1

13. If the election for State Attorney General were being held today, and the
candidates were Eric Schneiderman the Democrat and Dan Donovan the Republican,
for whom would you vote?(If undecided) If you had to choose today, would you vote
for Schneiderman or Donovan? This table includes "Leaners".

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Schneiderman 37 6 71 25 31 43 10 43
Donovan 36 76 9 33 41 29 64 30
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 1 - - 2 - 1 - 1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) - - - - - - - -
DK/NA 27 18 20 41 27 27 26 26

13a. (If candidate choice q13) Is your mind made up, or do you think you might
change your mind before the election?

LIKELY VOTERS.........
CAND CHOICE Q13
Tot ES DD

Made up 52 53 51
Might change 46 44 48
DK/NA 2 3 1

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14. Is your opinion of - Thomas DiNapoli favorable, unfavorable or haven't you
heard enough about him?

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Favorable 21 19 23 23 21 21 17 21
Unfavorable 11 14 9 12 15 7 11 12
Hvn't hrd enough 66 67 66 64 64 70 72 66
REFUSED 1 - 2 1 1 2 - 1

15. Is your opinion of - Harry Wilson favorable, unfavorable or haven't you

heard enough about him?

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

Favorable 7 7 3 12 9 4 12 6
Unfavorable 1 - 2 - 1 2 1 1
Hvn't hrd enough 91 91 94 86 89 93 85 93
REFUSED 1 2 - 1 1 1 2 1

16. If the election for State Comptroller were being held today, and the
candidates were Thomas DiNapoli the Democrat and Harry Wilson the Republican,
for whom would you vote? (If undecided) If you had to choose today, would you
vote for DiNapoli or Wilson? This table includes "Leaners".

LIKELY VOTERS .......................................

TEA PARTY Q22
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes No

DiNapoli 46 21 72 38 43 48 27 50
Wilson 30 58 6 35 36 23 54 26
SMONE ELSE(VOL) - - - - - - - -
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) - - - - - - - -
DK/NA 24 21 22 27 20 28 19 24

16a. (If candidate choice q16) Is your mind made up, or do you think you might
change your mind before the election?

LIKELY VOTERS.........
CAND CHOICE Q16
Tot TD HW

Made up 60 58 62
Might change 40 41 37
DK/NA 1 - 1

17a. Do you approve or disapprove of the way David Paterson is handling

his job as Governor?

LIKELY VOTERS.........................
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 37 31 43 39 41 32
Disapprove 58 67 48 58 56 60
DK/NA 5 2 9 2 3 8
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17. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Kirsten Gillibrand is handling her
job as United States Senator?

LIKELY VOTERS.........................
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 49 20 82 38 46 53
Disapprove 37 66 8 44 43 30
DK/NA 14 14 9 18 11 18

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

LIKELY VOTERS.........................
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 55 25 92 48 51 60
Disapprove 39 73 5 46 44 32
DK/NA 6 3 3 6 5 7

20. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president?

LIKELY VOTERS.........................
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Approve 47 7 83 43 44 51
Disapprove 48 93 10 53 51 45
DK/NA 4 - 7 4 4 4

21. 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?

LIKELY VOTERS.........................
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Very satisfied 2 - 4 - 3 1
Smwht satisfied 18 5 31 15 15 22
Smwht dissatisfied 29 28 33 25 26 33
Very dissatisfied 50 67 30 59 55 43
DK/NA 1 - 2 1 - 2

22. Do you consider yourself part of the Tea party movement or not?

LIKELY VOTERS.........................
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom

Yes 18 34 5 18 18 17
No 79 63 91 79 78 80
DK/NA 4 3 5 3 4 3