Hayworth is viewed favorably by 48 percent of voters, and 37 percent view her unfavorably. Maloney's favorables stand at 27 percent and his unfavorables at 19 percent, according to the Siena poll. Sixty-eight percent have seen a Hayworth commercial or been contacted by her campaign, compared to just 27 percent for Maloney.

National Journal Hotline: Hayworth Leads Maloney by Double Digits

Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y., sports a double-digit lead over Democratic challenger Sean Patrick Maloney seven weeks out from Election Day, according to the results of a new Siena College Research Institute poll. But the freshman incumbent is also short of safety, validating the recent spending by Democratic and Republican outside groups in the district, and a third-party candidate splitting liberal support might not appear on the ballot in November.

Hayworth leads Maloney 46 percent to 33 percent in a New York 18th District general election matchup, with another 10 percent choosing the Working Families Party nominee, Larry Weissmann, and the last 11 percent undecided. But Hayworth runs behind the top of the Republican ticket in the poll, which shows Mitt Romney winning 49 percent to President Obama's 45 percent. Obama carried the 18th District with 52 percent of the vote in 2008.

A statement from the Maloney campaign Tuesday morning noted that they expect Weissmann to be off the ballot -- and Maloney to be on the WFP line -- for the election. In the statement, Working Families Party executive director Dan Cantor said that he expects Weissmann to be nominated for the state Supreme Court, "in which case the Working Families Party Executive Committee intends to nominate Sean Patrick Maloney as our candidate" in the district, Cantor said. The state can start transmitting military ballots on Saturday, but this is expected to be taken care of this week.

Siena Research surveyed 628 likely voters from Sept. 12-16 for the poll, which has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.9 percentage points.

Maloney released his first television ad of the general election campaign as the poll was in the field, and its results demonstrate his need for a strong advertising campaign. Over half -- 54 percent -- of voters said they had no opinion or had never heard of the Democratic nominee, and he's in a race to define himself before Republicans do it for him. The National Republican Congressional Committee launched a TV ad last week linking Maloney to Obama's health care law, which 49 percent of voters in the poll wish to see repealed, and Hayworth followed up with a spot calling Maloney a carpetbagger. House Majority PAC, the major Democratic-aligned, House-focused super PAC, is supporting Maloney with TV ads assailing Hayworth's record on women's issues in Congress.

The poll results show that both sides are trying to leverage advantages in an upscale district that leans liberal on social issues but is more evenly split on economic ones. Forty-seven percent of voters say they are "closer to President Obama's position" on women's reproductive health, with 29 percent saying they are closer to Romney.

Hayworth is viewed favorably by 48 percent of voters, and 37 percent view her unfavorably. Maloney's favorables stand at 27 percent and his unfavorables at 19 percent, according to the Siena poll. Sixty-eight percent have seen a Hayworth commercial or been contacted by her campaign, compared to just 27 percent for Maloney.