Fewer New Yorkers approve of governor's performance: poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Just over half of New Yorkers approved of Gov. David Paterson's performance in November, a decline from the previous month, that reflects the sliding economy and a "bitter budget battle," a poll said Wednesday.

The Democrat's approval rating fell to 51 percent from 57 percent in October in the November 18 poll by Poughkeepsie-based Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

Muni bond investors monitor such polls to assess whether governors will get their budgets approved. The New York legislatures on Tuesday spurned $2 billion of cuts Paterson wanted.

In contrast, a separate survey found Democratic New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's approval ratings, though still negative, improved to a negative 43 to 42 percent from an unfavorable rating of 46 percent to 42 percent. But a much bigger margin of voters, 51 percent to 37 percent, said Corzine does not deserve to be reelected, according to the survey by the Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

The institute's November 13 to 17 survey poll of 2,020 voters had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.

The New York survey of 613 voters, which had a 4 percent margin rate, also found that voters favored state attorney general Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, as a replacement for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton if she becomes Secretary of State as reports have suggested.

Voters preferred Cuomo by 43 percent, more than any other candidate.

(Reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Diane Craft)