ALBANY — The first statewide poll after Democratic primary debates shows Eliot Spitzer maintaining a big lead for governor, but hints at a possible surprise in the four-way attorney general race.

Half of likely primary voters in the Quinnipiac University poll said they may change their allegiance in the attorney general race by the September 12 ballot.

“That’s why it’s not in the bag,” said Quinnipiac’s Maurice Carroll, despite Andrew Cuomo’s continued lead over Mark Green. “It’s not sewn up.”

Mr. Cuomo leads 43% to 28% over Mr. Green, the former New York City public advocate. Sean Patrick Maloney, a former aide to President Clinton, had 4% and Charlie King, a former housing official in the Clinton administration, had 1%.

Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Green would each beat Republican candidate Jeanine Pirroin November, according to the poll. Mr. Cuomo, Mr. Clinton’s former housing secretary, had a 30 percentage point lead and Mr. Green a 16 point margin over Ms. Pirro.

Those numbers didn’t change significantly after a televised forum and a debate, both held last week.

“During the Democratic debate last week, there were warnings that a nasty primary could throw the November election to Republican Jeanine Pirro,” Mr. Carroll said. “But so far, she hasn’t moved … she gets only the generic Republican one-third.”

Numbers in the governor’s race remained largely unchanged after a July 26 televised debate between Mr. Spitzer and Democratic challenger Tom Suozzi.

The poll shows Mr. Spitzer had a 78% to 15% lead over Mr. Suozzi, the Nassau County executive, with about three weeks left until the Democratic primary.

“You can’t say (Suozzi) is a nobody, but you can say he’s not having any impact at all,” Mr. Carroll said of Mr. Suozzi.

Either Mr. Spitzer or Mr. Suozzi would beat Republican candidate John Faso, according to the poll.

Mr. Spitzer would take 65% of the vote against 17% for Mr. Faso, a slight improvement compared to a June poll. A Mr. Suozzi – Mr. Faso matchup would be closer: 40% to 22% with 30% undecided.

Seventy-eight percent of those polled said they still didn’t know enough about Mr. Faso, which the campaign sees as potential for support once more voters start paying attention in the fall.

Democrats have a 5-3 enrollment advantage statewide.

The poll was conducted August 15-21. The attorney general’s forum was August 16 and the debate was August 17. The poll of 1,556 registered voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5%. Among likely Democratic voters, the margin of error was plus or minus 4.6%.