Malloy’s Approval Rating Remains Low

By Susan Haigh

Associated Press

HARTFORD — A new statewide poll released Wednesday shows Democratic Governor Dannel P. Malloy continues to suffer from low public approval ratings, with the majority of voters disagreeing with how he’s handled the state budget.

A large majority of registered voters, 67 percent, told the Quinnipiac University Poll that taxes should have been raised higher on wealthy taxpayers, while 17 percent said the tax increases have been spread fairly. The two-year, $40.1 billion budget approved by the Democratic controlled General Assembly raises taxes by $1.4 billion in the first year and $1.2 billion in the second.

Malloy has said repeatedly that a “shared sacrifice” of tax increases, spending cuts, and union savings are needed to the balance the budget. The new fiscal year beginning July 1 is projected to be $3.3 billion in deficit.

Only 38 percent of voters said they approve of the job Malloy is doing as governor, while 44 percent disapprove. Back in March, 35 percent approved of Malloy’s efforts while 40 percent disapproved.

“His low approval rating is a reflection of how voters feel about his budget. Many voters are dissatisfied and some even say they are angry,” said Poll Director Douglas Schwartz. “They think the budget relies too much on tax increases and not enough on spending cuts. They also think the middle class is paying more than its fair share while those with higher incomes aren’t paying their fair share.”

The same poll, however, shows many voters, 48 percent, like Malloy as a person. Eighteen percent said they don’t like him and 34 percent said they didn’t know enough to form an opinion. But 50 percent said they still don’t like his policies, while 37 percent said they do like them.

The telephone survey of 1,311 registered voters has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. Live interviewers called both landlines and cellphones.