80 percent believed Governor Spitzer “should be required to testify in an investigation as I do.

Poll: 62% of State Voters Favor Investigation of Spitzer

A WNBC/Marist Poll released today found that 62 percent of New York State voters say there should be a further investigation into what Gov. Eliot Spitzer knew about his aides’ use of the State Police to gather damaging information about the travels of the State Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno.

The poll found that 33 percent thought the investigation released on Monday by the state attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, was adequate, and 5 percent were uncertain.

The poll, which was conducted among 554 registered voters across New York State on Wednesday and Thursday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points, offers a first glimpse at the damage the scandal has inflicted on the Spitzer administration. The five-page poll results are here.

The poll found that 50 percent of registered voters think Governor Spitzer was aware of what his aides were doing when they tried to plant a negative story in the news media about Mr. Bruno, while 38 percent believe the governor, who said he had no knowledge of what had been done.

Predictably, Republicans were the most skeptical of the governor’s claims: 61 percent thought he was aware of the effort to tarnish Mr. Bruno, compared with 45 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of independents.

The poll found that 80 percent believed Governor Spitzer “should be required to testify in an investigation regarding the actions of his staff.” That suggests that the public may not be sympathetic to any claim by the governor that executive immunity prevents the Legislature from subpoenaing records about the inner workings of the governor’s office.