Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
/ file photo
ALBANY -- A Quinnipiac University poll found Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand with a 60 percent approval rating and wide leads over the GOP contenders.
Quinnipiac surveyed 1,597 New York voters from March 28 through April 2. The poll has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
The poll also found that Gov. Mitt Romney leads the presidential GOP race with 54 percent among likely primary voters. Sen. Rick Santorum follows with 21 percent. Trailing behind are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 9 percent and Rep. Ron Paul with 8 percent.
Gillibrand has reported having $9.1 million on hand for her re-election campaign as a poll shows her leading potential Republican challengers by roughly 2-to-1 margins.
Gillibrand's campaign says Thursday she will report raising more than $1.5 million during the quarter in the federal filing due April 15.
Three Republican are running in a primary to face Gillibrand: New York City lawyer Wendy Long, Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos and U.S. Rep. Bob Turner. Early filing information isn't available for them.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
