ALBANY (AP) -- Women voters in New York strongly favor Democratic candidate Andrew Cuomo for governor and could make the difference in his race against tea party Republican Carl Paladino, but a new poll also finds they are also less motivated to vote.
The Marist College poll released Friday showed 60 percent of women in the state dominated by Democrats state would support Cuomo, as opposed to 45 percent of men. But the poll also shows women are less energized to cast ballots on Nov. 2. The poll showed that while 44 percent of men - many of them Republicans - showed enthusiasm about voting, just 32 percent of women - many of them Democrats - felt the same way.
"There is quite a gender gap," said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff. "Although there is a bigger advantage among women, they are not as eager to vote."
This election year, driven by a wave of voter anger and tea party Republicans, appears to have mobilized men far more than women nationally and in New York.
"Women voters are always a deficit for male Republican candidates in a majority Democrat statewide race," said Paladino spokesman Michael Caputo. "We are happy to see they are unconvinced supporters of Andrew." Caputo said that means they will be easier to attract to Paladino.
Democrats have a nearly 2-to-1 enrollment advantage over Republicans.
Cuomo had no immediate comment.
One of Paladino's earliest campaign problems was e-mails revealed by a political website in western New York that were considered sexist and racist. Paladino has since said he regrets using poor judgment when he forwarded those e-mails to friends.
Other polls this year have found similar gender patterns.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found 54 percent of women backed Cuomo compared to 34 percent for Paladino. That's a critical constituency for Cuomo, who that poll of likely voters showed leading Paladino by just six points.
The next day, a Siena College poll found 65 percent of female registered voters favored Cuomo while 31 percent backed Paladino. Overall, Cuomo had a 33-point edge in that poll.
The latest Marist poll shows Cuomo with a 19-point lead over Paladino among likely voters. Cuomo had 52 percent of the support, compared to 33 percent for Paladino. The poll found 9 percent supporting Rick Lazio, the Republican designee who lost the GOP primary to Paladino. Lazio is considering dropping his spot on the Conservative line, which Marist's Miringoff said would narrow Cuomo's edge.
Miringoff said that if Lazio withdraws from the race, a decision expected within days, the spread between Cuomo and Paladino would likely narrow.
Miringoff also said he saw some "worrisome" data for Cuomo. Generally, politicians in office need to be ahead as much as 50 percent or more in polls to be secure.
"It's barely above 50 percent and so that suggests that if Lazio at some point discontinues his candidacy and the undecided voters go to the challenger, as is usually the case unless the challenger is seen as too negative ... it suggests this race could be more competitive."
The poll released Friday questioned 617 likely voters from Sunday though Wednesday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 points.
In other campaign news, election records show Paladino spent more than $1 million in the two weeks before his shocking primary win over Lazio.
Paladino, a millionaire Buffalo developer, loaned his campaign just over $1 million and collected another $180,000 in contributions, mostly from individuals in small amounts.
During the same period, Lazio raised $286,000 and spent $486,000. He has $302,000 left as he considers staying in the race on the Conservative line he won, which would split conservative voters.
Cuomo had more than $23 million in his account.
Paladino spent more than $1 million on campaign ads before the Sept. 14 primary through his company. He spent $200,000 on a New Jersey-based consulting firm.
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