Chris Christie is so popular that he’d even beat Gov. Cuomo in a hypothetical presidential matchup in New York, according to a poll released Monday.
Empire State voters would go with the Republican New Jersey governor over his Democratic counterpart 47 to 42 percent if the 2016 presidential race were held today, the Siena College poll found.
But former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would trounce Christie 56-40 in New York if she became the Democratic nominee, the poll said.
Cuomo held a commanding lead over Christie in New York City, but Christie emerged on top statewide because of strong support in the suburbs and upstate.
Christie also led among independent voters by 21 points.
Political analysts say Cuomo probably won’t go after the presidential nomination if Clinton makes a run, as is widely expected.
The poll showed Cuomo is a shoo-in for re-election next year.
That gave one GOP consultant a cheeky idea.
“Christie could do the New York Republican Party a favor. He could move to New York, run against Cuomo and become the governor of both states,” joked Republican consultant Ed Rollins.
Rollins, who advised President Ronald Reagan and GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, said Christie is riding high after his smashing re-election victory.
But Rollins cautioned that other GOP front-runners who led in early presidential polls — notably Rudy Giuliani — crashed in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The poll contained more bad news for Cuomo.
Only 44 percent of voters thought he was doing an excellent or good job, with 56 percent rating his performance as fair or poor — the lowest rating of his tenure.
But 61 percent of voters still gave him a positive approval rating and a majority said they’d vote for him next year over an unnamed challenger.
When it came to specific rivals, Cuomo captured 62 to 65 percent of the vote against state GOP Chairman Ed Cox, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Carl Paladino, Cuomo’s 2010 Republican opponent.
“Against all three, [Cuomo] gets the support of more than 80 percent of Democrats, a strong majority of independents and a little more than one-third of Republicans. And that’s before he spends a dollar from his $30 million campaign war chest,” noted pollster Steve Greenberg.
Cuomo also remains the big banana in New York state and city politics, despite the rise of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio.
Asked whom is more representative of their beliefs, 47 percent of state voters said Cuomo and 28 percent said de Blasio.
Cuomo even led de Blasio 46-41 percent among city voters.