Albany Watch

A Rasmussen poll today shows Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio with the largest lead in any poll against Gov. David Paterson, finding Lazio up 45 percent to to 38 percent. Other statewide polls have generally found them neck-and-neck.

The Rasmussen poll also showed Lazio closing the wide gap against likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo leads Lazio by 19 percentage points, 54 percent to 35 percent. Cuomo had a 28-percentage-point lead in mid-November.

With unaffiliated voters, Lazio beats Paterson by 23 percentage points and breaks about even against Cuomo.

The poll also showed what other polls this week showed: Paterson’s approval is on the rise. The Rasmussen poll had Paterson’s approval at 44 percent, up from 36 percent in November.

As for the U.S. Senate race, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand leads potential Democratic primary challenger Harold Ford by a 25-percentage-point margin, 48 percent to to 23 percent.

Rasmussen polled 1,000 likely voters, and the survey had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.