A new Quinnipiac University poll released Monday showed the “Tabloid Twins,” former Governor Eliot Spitzer and former Congressman Anthony Weiner, with leads in their respective New York City primary races.

Spitzer, who was governor of New York state before resigning due to a prostitution scandal in 2008 and is now running for city comptroller, had the support of 48 percent of the Democrats polled. He led Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer by fifteen percentage points.

Meanwhile, former seven-term congressman Weiner was just ahead of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for the Democratic nomination in the mayoral race. He had 25 percent to Quinn’s 22, ahead of a crowded field that also included former Comptroller William Thompson (10 percent), Public Advocate Bill de Blasio (10 percent), Comptroller John Liu (7 percent), and former City Council member Sal Albanese (1 percent). Just over a fifth of the voters polled remained undecided.

In that race, a candidate needs to reach 40 percent to advance. Otherwise, it goes to a runoff.

Maurice Carroll, director of Quinnipiac’s Polling Institute, said that the two candidate’s “notoriety has earned” them “good initial numbers in the polls.” It’s an open question whether that can be sustained up until Primary Day itself, on September 10.

Race seems to be a factor in the race, despite the fact that both men are white. Weiner has the support of 31 percent of black voters, almost double the number backing Quinn (16).

The comptroller race has an even bigger split, with Spitzer’s lead largely due to ethnic voter support. 61 percent of black voters back Spitzer, as do 47 percent of Hispanics. Only 36 percent of white voters say he’s their choice, against 44 for Stringer.

Spitzer also has the support of 53 percent of men and 44 percent of women, while 29 percent of men back Weiner along with 21 percent of women.

Both men seem to be benefiting from their high profiles, even if that means recalling the scandal-tinged downfalls. Spitzer has a 53-32 percent favorability rating, while 62 percent of Democratic voters told the pollsters that they didn’t know enough about his opponent Stringer.

Weiner has a 42 percent favorable rating, just a few points higher than his competition’s.

Across the demographic board, and in the sample as a whole, the consensus was that “financial impropriety is a worse offense for an elected official than sexual misconduct.” Sixty-nine percent of the city’s Democrats felt that way, which might explain the leads held by Spitzer and Weiner eight weeks out from Election Day.

The survey was conducted July 8-14, including 738 registered Democrats in the city and calling both land lines and cell phones. The margin of error is +/- 3.6 percentage points.