ALBANY - A 36-year veteran of the New York Senate trailed his Democratic opponent according to a poll released Sunday, threatening continued Republican control of the chamber.

The Siena Research Institute poll finds Democratic challenger Brian Foley led GOP Sen. Caesar Trunzo 56-34 percent in the 3rd Senate District in Suffolk County, with 9 percent still undecided. Foley, the Brookhaven town supervisor, took the lead since September, when the Siena poll had Trunzo leading 46-40 percent.

“Foley has completely reversed this race, erasing Senator Trunzo's small early lead and opening an overwhelming 22-point lead,” said Steven Greenberg, spokesman for the Siena College poll. “Unless Trunzo can somehow find a quick way to bring Republican voters back into his camp and narrow the gap with independent voters, he appears to be facing a deficit that cannot be made up in the short time remaining.”

The poll shows another reversal in favor of Democrats: Democratic Sen. William Stachowski had a 47-43 lead over Republican challenger Dennis Delano in Sunday's poll, with 10 percent undecided. Delano, a local hero police officer, was ahead in an October Siena poll in the race for the seat representing the 58th District. The district includes Wyoming County and parts of Erie, Livingston and Ontario counties.

Taken as a whole, the results of the five keys races in Sunday's poll and four more in Siena's poll on Thursday show Republicans would lose a seat. That would create a tie in the Senate, where the GOP's 40-year majority has dwindled to 31-29 with two vacancies that are expected to be split by the parties on Tuesday. The Senate is the GOP's only power base in state government.

But Sunday's poll also showed strength for the Republicans in the face of a rising Democratic enrollment and the party's boost through popular presidential nominee Barack Obama.