ALBANY (AP) -- A new poll finds New York Democratic senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand with commanding leads over their Republican challengers.
The Siena College poll of likely voters found Gillibrand leading Republican candidate Joe DioGuardi by 60 percent to 31 percent.
Gillibrand, who has been advertising heavily in recent weeks, scored her highest favorability rating in a Siena poll: 51 percent.
The poll shows Schumer with 67 percent support, compared to 28 percent for Republican challenger Jay Townsend.
Siena surveyed 647 voters from last Thursday through Monday. The poll released Wednesday has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.
In other Senate campaign news, Schumer has reported $19.3 million in campaign cash as he seeks a third term.
The Democrat reported raising about $1 million in September and spending $4.8 million during the same period. Schumer has been buying TV ads across the state and transferred at least $1 million to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the reporting period.
Schumer released a summary of his campaign filing, which did not include details of spending and contributions. Schumer's Republican challenger Jay Townsend has not yet released his latest campaign filing.
Townsend, a political consultant, had reported $11,000 in campaign cash before September.
Gillibrand on Monday reported a 10-fold financial advantage in her race for election, with $3.5 million in campaign cash compared to about $347,000 on hand for Republican challenger Joe DioGuardi.
The Democratic incumbent reported raising about $1.3 million from Aug. 26 through the end of September and spending $2.4 million during the same period. Gillibrand, appointed to the seat last year to replace Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, has been spending heavily on TV campaign ads and is ahead in the polls.
DioGuardi, a certified public accountant and former congressman, raised just over $1 million in the period, including $693,000 of his own money. He spent $1.7 million during the period. The relatively small cache could affect the former Westchester County congressman's ability to air TV advertisements statewide in the final weeks of the race.
"In the final days of the campaign, People for DioGuardi will have the resources it needs to project its message of runaway government spending that has jeopardized the American dream," said DioGuardi spokesman Tom Kise.
Also, the Gillibrand campaign said two prominent Democrats will be helping her raise money this month. Former President Bill Clinton will appear at a New York City fundraiser on Saturday and Vice President Joe Biden will attend a separate fundraiser in the city on Oct. 26.
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