NY Senate Race A Dead Heat

Additionally, many of each candidate's voters express reservations in supporting their candidate.

WHY DO YOU SUPPORT YOUR CANDIDATE?

Among Clinton supporters, 46 percent say they support her because they strongly favor her, but 35 percent say they support her with reservations, and 19 percent say they support her because they don't like Giuliani. Giuliani's supporters feel relatively the same about him: 44 percent strongly favor him, 39 percent express reservations in their support, and 18 percent support him because they dislike Clinton.

THE ATTENTION

The Senate race has generated a lot of attention eight months out, and many voters have already made up their minds whom to support. Seventy-one percent of New York's registered voters are paying attention to the race at this early stage with 29 percent paying A LOT of attention. In October 1998, only ONE MONTH before the last Senate election, only 60 percent of registered voters were paying attention to the race between Al D'Amato and Charles Schumer.

Given the attention already focused on the campaigns, 65 percent of likely voters say their minds are already set given the choice between Clinton and Giuliani - and are unlikely to change.

THE CANDIDATES

Clinton and Giuliani continue to be polarizing figures, with as many voters liking as disliking them. And despite all of the attention paid to the race, including the first lady's official announcement of her candidacy, images of the two candidates remain virtually unchanged from four months ago.

Clinton enjoys an advantage on many candidte qualities, although not necessarily on experience. Registered voters are more likely to think that Clinton cares about the needs and problems of people like themselves: 57 percent say Clinton cares, while 48 percent say Giuliani does.

Voters also believe that Clinton, rather than Giuliani, is more likely to represent their interests in the Senate. Forty-nine percent say Clinton would better represent their interests while 37 percent say Giuliani would.

But when it comes to qualifications for office, Giuliani has the upper hand. Seventy percent of registered voters - including 60 percent of Democrats - say Giuliani has the right kind of experience to be a Senator. Only 47 percent of all voters say Clinton has the right kinds of experience.

CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS

Voters also give Giuliani an edge on getting things done for New York state: 66 percent say Giuliani would be able to get things done. Somewhat fewer, but still a majority - 58 percent - say Clinton would be good at getting things done.

The candidates are viewed roughly equally on the issue of honesty and integrity. Fifty-seven percent of voters say that Giuliani has the honesty and integrity they would like to see in a senator; 52 percent say Clinton does.

Rudy is seen as the more negative of the two candidates so far in the campaign. Forty-seven percent of voters say that Giuliani has spent more time attacking Clinton than explaining his positions on the issues, while only 28 percent say he has spent more time explaining his positions. In contrast, 68 percent of voters say Clinton has spent more time explaining her positions, and only 16 percent think she has more often been on the attack.

THE ISSUES

In dealing with issues in the Senate, registered voters give Clinton the advantage on the two issues New York state residents name as the most important: education and health care. Twelve percent of New Yorkers name education as the issue they would most like the government to address, and another 12 percent name health care.

When asked who would do a better job dealing with education in the Senate, 55 percent of voters say Clinton, while only 31 percent choose Giuliani. Voters also believe Clinton would be better dealing with health care issues: 63 percent choose Clinton over Giuliani on this issue; 22 percent choose Giuliani.

WHO WOULD BE BETTER DEALING WITH...?

Far more voters believe that Giuliani is better able to deal successfully with crime issues than think the first lady is. Seventy-three percent percent choose Giuliani as the better at dealing with crime, while only 16 percent choose Clinton. But at the same time, only 2 percent of New York residents choose crime as the most important issue for government to address.

On the issue of abortion, voters believe that Clinton would be more likely than Giuliani to protect access to legal abortions. And perhaps as a result, they also say Clinton would be most likely to cast votes they would agree with on Supreme Court nominations. Fifty-seven percent of voters say that Clinton, rather than Giuliani, would be more likely to protect access to legal abortion, while 13 percent say Giuliani would.

When it comes to Senate approval of Supreme Court nominations, 57 percent say they trust Clinton to make choices with which they would agree. Forty-eight percent trust Giuliani to make the right decisions about nominees. Pro-choice voters - who make up nearly half of registered voters - are even more in Clinton's favor. Sixty-six percent of those who would like to keep abortion access as it is currently trust Clinton to make Supreme Court nomination decisions, but only 42 percent trust Giuliani to do the same.

WHO SUPPORTS WHOM

Clinton is doing somewhat better among New York City voters than she was in October: 66 percent of New York City likely voters currently support Clinton, compared to 59 percent support four months ago. Giuliani continues to dominate in the suburbs, and upstate, receiving 58 percent and 55 percent of the vote respectively.

A strong gender gap continues, although as in October, Clinton's support among women is driven by minority voters. Fifty-three percent of women support Clinton, while 54 percent of men support Giuliani. Among both white woen and white men, Clinton's support is much lower.