UPDATE 1-NY governor losing support among voters, poll says

* Voter approval of NY governor nearing record lows

* Support for Paterson eroded dramatically in days (Adds Paterson remarks)

By Ellen Wulfhorst

NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) - So few voters approve of the way embattled New York Governor David Paterson is handling his job that his newest approval rating is among the lowest in recent records, according to a poll released on Friday.

A mere 21 percent of New York voters polled this week approve of Paterson, among the lowest recorded for an elected official in its 18 years of polling, the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute said.

The Democratic governor is under mounting pressure to resign as he faces one investigation on whether he intervened inappropriately into a domestic abuse case against a top aide, and another weighing potential criminal charges on grounds he illegally solicited and accepted gifts.

Just 46 percent of those polled want Paterson to serve out his term, while 42 percent want him to resign and 12 percent are undecided, said the poll taken on Wednesday and Thursday.

His support plunged in just two days as polling on Monday and Tuesday showed 61 percent of voters wanted him to serve his term and 31 percent wanted him out.

"Support for Governor David Paterson erodes with every new headline," said Maurice Carroll, the polling institute's director.

"Voters surveyed Monday and Tuesday were in favor of keeping Paterson by a net 30 points. On Wednesday and Thursday, voter support was a net four points," he said. "That's a 26-point drop in two days."

The only lower approval scores were for former President George W. Bush and Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, who left the U.S. Senate in 1997 amid charges he accepted illegal campaign contributions. They had approval ratings of 18 and 19 percent before they left office, Quinnipiac said.

"President George W. Bush and Senator Robert Torricelli may have lower grades than Paterson, but both of them were on their way out the door," Carroll said.

"JUST SIGN IT, DAVE!"

The front page of the New York Post on Friday featured a mock-up of a letter of resignation by the governor, with the headline: "Just Sign It, Dave!"

The governor's political woes intensified this week with word that a state ethics panel was investigating him for soliciting free baseball tickets to the 2009 World Series and asked prosecutors to determine if criminal charges should be brought. The panel said Paterson violated a ban on gifts for public officials and lied about it.

The state Attorney General's office is investigating whether Paterson improperly intervened in a domestic abuse case in which a woman was seeking an order of protection against his top aide David Johnson. Paterson spoke with the woman by telephone, and afterward she failed to appear for a court hearing and her case was dismissed.

Two top aides -- Paterson's deputy secretary for public safety and director of communications -- resigned this week. The communications chief, Peter Kauffmann, said in a statement: "I cannot in good conscience continue in my current position."

Paterson has denied his guilt, saying he never abused his office, and has insisted he is not resigning.

On Friday, he told reporters waiting outside his New York City offices that he had "no plans" to quit his job. He said he planned to cooperate with the investigations and expected to clear his name, local media reported.

Last week he abandoned his nascent campaign to seek a new term. He became governor two years ago when former Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned in a prostitution scandal.

Two-thirds of voters fear Paterson and the legislature cannot to work together to approve a state budget, the poll said. Quinnipiac surveyed 1,325 registered voters in the latest poll which had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.

(Editing by Vicki Allen)