By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Now that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is apparently out of the governor's race, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is the clear frontrunner for the seat in 2010, the latest Marist Poll shows.
“Right now, Andrew Cuomo has a clear path to become governor,” said Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, director of The Marist College Poll, in a statement.
“If he could fast-forward to next November, I’m sure he would.”
Cuomo's candidacy for governor has been widely speculated, but is not yet official. The attorney general has the support of 72 percent of Democrats statewide in a hypothetical 2010 match-up against Gov. David Paterson.
Paterson launched a television campaign in early November, but that has done little to affect his poll numbers. Sixty-five percent of voters who have watched the ads do not want Paterson to run at all.
The poll also showed a blowout between Cuomo and former Rep. Rick Lazio, a Republican who announced his candidacy weeks ago. Cuomo has 69 percent of the vote compared to Lazio’s 24 percent.
In a Lazio versus Paterson race, however, the electorate is split, with 44 percent going for the Republican and 44 percent for the Democrat.
