Approval numbers for Governor David Paterson have taken a nose dive, according to a new poll released Monday.

A Marist poll of registered voters shows only 26 percent of New Yorkers surveyed think Paterson is doing either an excellent or good job. That’s 20 percentage points lower than the last time Marist polled voters on this question at the end of January.

Paterson’s current approval rating is also the lowest approval rating for any New York governor in nearly 30 years of Marist Polls being conducted statewide.

The poll also shows Paterson would have some trouble if he runs for office in 2010.

A majority of voters say they would support former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in a hypothetical match-up for governor. Giuliani beats Paterson 53 percent to 38 percent.

The January poll put the two in a statistical dead heat at 43 percent each.

Paterson also seems to be losing ground within his own party. State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo holds a more than two-to-one edge over the incumbent among Democrats, with 62 percent of them saying they would support Cuomo as the party nominee.

Only 26 percent say they would back Paterson.

Voters were also cold towards the governor’s handling of the economic crisis, and the overall direction of the state.

The survey was conducted in the last week of February with 1,045 New Yorkers polled. There is a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Source: NY1