61% of adults from New York’s 13th Congressional District say their U.S. Representative, Republican Vito Fossella, should remain in office, according to an exclusive SurveyUSA poll conducted for WABC-TV in New York. 32% say Fossella should resign.

Both Republicans and Democrats say Fossella should stay put: 66% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats say he should remain in office.

Fossella has been in the news following a drunk-driving arrest in Virginia and for acknowledging having fathered a child during an extramarital affair. SurveyUSA did not ask specifically about the recent coverage of Fossella, but simply asked his constituents questions about his job performance and his political future.

Other findings:

Fossella has a high approval rating among his constituents — 67% approve of his job performance, 28% disapprove, yielding a Net Job Approval of Plus 39. By way of comparison, statewide SurveyUSA research conducted in April shows New York Governor David Paterson has a Plus 27 Net Job Approval; Senators Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer have approval ratings of Plus 17 and Plus 29, respectively. Fossella has a positive approval rating among Republicans and Democrats alike.

Asked if Fossella should run for re-election in the fall, however, numbers shift somewhat: overall, 53% say he should seek re-election; 42% say he should not. Republicans say he should run by a margin of nearly 2-1; Democrats are divided equally on the question. Fully crosstabbed results of the poll are here.