Pawlenty’s approval rating: About middlin’
09/21/2005
Patricia Lopez,
Star Tribune
September 21, 2005
New surveys put Gov. Tim Pawlenty smack in the middle of the pack among the nation’s 50 governors, with a 54 percent approval rating among Minnesotans that may indicate he has rebounded a bit from the recent bruising special legislative session.
SurveyUSA, the nation’s largest media pollster, released a 50-state ranking on Tuesday that shows Pawlenty at 26th among all governors in approval by their constituents.
At the top is South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds, with a 76 percent approval rating, while Ohio Gov. Bob Taft is 50th with a meager 17 percent approval.
The poll, which sampled 600 people in each state on Sept. 5, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
The ranking sandwiches Pawlenty between Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Owens has the same 54 percent approval rating as Pawlenty, but a disapproval rating of 42 percent - two points lower than Pawlenty’s 44 percent. Bush’s approval stands at 53 percent.
In the last Star Tribune Minnesota Poll, taken in May, Pawlenty’s approval rating was 56 percent, but his disapproval rating was only 33 percent.
SurveyUSA showed Pawlenty’s approval at 54 percent in May and disapproval at 38 percent. Tracking his approval ratings since then, SurveyUSA showed dips to 48 percent in June and 43 percent in July, when the Legislature was locked in a bitter special session amid a partial state government shutdown. Pawlenty’s disapproval soared to 50 percent at that point.
He came back slightly in August, to a 45 percent approval rating, but this month leapt to 54 percent—close to his pre-special-session ratings.
“These poll numbers are good news,” said Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung. “This last legislative session had an ugly process. We all recognized there was widespread public angst, which we shared, but we feel these numbers are good news and reflect a strong rebound in public support for the governor and his policies.”
Complete results can be viewed at http://www.surveyusa.com.