ALBANY - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is the clear favorite to win in November, according to a poll released on Monday.

The two-term Democratic incumbent has a 22-point lead over Republican hopeful Marc Molinaro in a survey of likely voters by the Siena Research Institute. Democrats are well positioned further down the ballot too, according to the poll, with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and state attorney general candidate Letitia "Tish" James leading by comfortable margins.

Among the six mainstream candidates running for governor, Cuomo is at 50 percent, Molinaro is at 28 percent, Working Families Party candidate Cynthia Nixon is at 10 percent, 8 percent don't know who they will choose and the remaining three candidates split 4 percent.

"Although Cuomo only has the support of half of voters, a relatively large number of voters, 14 percent, currently say they are planning to vote for one of the four minor party candidates," Siena Research Institute pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement.

"Cuomo is doing a better job holding his base, leading Molinaro among Democrats 77-6 percent, while Molinaro only leads among Republicans 59-21 percent," he said. "Independents favor Cuomo 39-29 percent, although 21 percent of them say they are supporting one of the other candidates."

If the election was only a choice between the Democratic and Republican options, Molinaro's deficit is cut to 18 percentage points, according to the poll.

It's possible, following a meeting of the Working Families Party on Wednesday, that Nixon will be replaced on the party's ballot line by Cuomo.

The poll assumes 25 percent of the electorate will come from New York City, about 29 percent from the surrounding suburbs and 46 percent from upstate communities. Despite a two-to-one enrollment advantage, Democrats only make up 46 percent of the electorate and Republicans are 32 percent.

The poll has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.

David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @poozer87