Zogby/WSJ Poll Shows Clinton Leads NY Senate Race, But Spencer Gains 10 Points

The latest Zogby/Wall Street Journal poll shows Sen. Hillary Clinton with a 21-point lead over former Yonkers mayor John Spencer (54-33), one of the two Republicans challenging Clinton. That may not seem like much of anything new, but in the same poll in January Clinton sported a 31-point bulge. KT McFarland, paired off against Clinton one-on-one for the first time by the Zogby/WSJ poll, trailed Clinton 55% to 30%.

Comparing the numbers, Spencer's showing against Clinton is a little bit stronger than McFarland's, which flies in the face of another poll we told you about yesterday. In the Quinnipiac poll McFarland led Spencer in a one-on-one race 35% to 22%.

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Things continue to shake Clinton's way on another front. Florida's legislature is looking at, and is expected to approve, a move of the state's presidential primary from March to the week after the New Hampshire primary, which has a long tradition of being the first primary on the docket (Iowa technically has caucuses and not a primary). If the primary of such a large swing state is held so early in the process, well-healed candidates with an extensive organizations are the ones expected to be helped. It's safe to say Clinton fits that description.

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Andrew Cuomo received the support of the Kings County (Brooklyn) Democratic Party in his bid for state attorney general. Cuomo got 26 votes to Mark Green's 5, which was good for second place. Vote totals were reported on the New York Observer's blog The Politicker.

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The latest Rasmussen Reports poll puts Thomas Keane Jr., the Republican, ahead of incumbent Democrat Robert Menendez in the New Jersey senate race, by a 41% to 39% tally. But in the Zogby/WSJ poll the two are tied at 40%. In a Quinnipiac poll on March 20 it was Menendez who held a 4-point lead. Bottom line, no one has the upper hand here.