Politics & Government

Poll: Many Dissatisfied With Malloy's Performance, Budget

Quinnipiac poll shows majority of residents do not approve of their new governor's job performance, but still like him personally.

More than half of voters are dissatisfied — or even angry — at Gov. Dannel Malloy's job performance, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, the results of which were released Wednesday.

Only 38 percent of those polled approve of the governor's job performance, while 44 percent disapprove, according to the poll, which came at the end of the General Assembly session that saw many of Malloy's initiatives become law.

Even among Democrats, only a bit over half approve of the Democratic governor's performance, according to the poll. 

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"You can choose to be popular, or you can choose to lead," Malloy's senior adviser Roy Occhiogrosso said. "Gov. Malloy has chosen to lead, and in doing so has made the tough decisions necessary to clean up the financial mess he inherited when he took office in January. 

"That people are unhappy with some of those decisions is no surprise. Gov. Malloy knew full well that making these decisions wouldn't make him popular, but he's not trying to win a popularity contest," Occhiogrosso said. "He's trying to fix what's broken in Connecticut once and for all, and is confident that we're headed in the right direction.”

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"I think he's in a tough position," Hamden resident Robert Pogue. "But I think he should have concentrated on the budget instead of the other stuff."

"The other stuff" Pogue refers to is the bill allowing students in the country illegally to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and the bill that decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana, both of which were approved.

"We have enough money problems right now, why even worry about things like that?" Pogue said. "I'm not too happy about the extra taxes [included in the approved 2011-12 state budget] but I guess you would say I'm resigned."

According to the Quinnipiac poll, 43 percent of those responding are "dissatisfied" with the state budget and 16 percent are "angry," compared to 36 percent who describe themselves as “enthusiastic” or “satisfied” with the budget. Those numbers are slightly higher than the results of a March 9 Quinnipiac poll.

Most polled said they don't like the way Malloy handled the budget by a 52-36 margin, and don't like the budget by 50 to 35 percent.

A vast majority — 67 percent — of respondents said they would have rather seen higher taxes on the wealthy, and only 17 percent said taxes are fairly spread across all income groups.

"There's too many tax increases that are going to hurt those of us who are struggling and have been struggling for a while now," North Haven resident Maria Kaufman said. "It was kind of surprising that a Democratic governor would have gone that route, and truthfully, a bit disappointing."

"I don't think this was the year to raise taxes so much," Hamden resident John Wilhelm said. "I mean, we're still in a recession, no matter how much they say it's over, and hiking taxes up during a time like this is like adding insult to injury."

But it's not personal. A light in the otherwise dismal report for the governor is his likability — 48 percent like him as a person, according to the poll, while 18 percent don't. Thirty-two percent think former Gov. M. Jodi Rell was better at the job, 20 percent prefer Malloy's job performance and 37 percent said they feel the same about both.

"There's no way to do what he's been doing in the state and not take a significant pummeling in his job approval ratings," Quinnipiac University Political Science professor Scott McLean said. "The bright spot is he has pretty much sustained his favorability as a person, and that will see him through."

It's interesting to see the criticism levied at the governor for not raising taxes more on the wealthy, McLean said.

"He might have had more support than he imagined for increasing taxes on the wealthiest individuals," McLean said, "but I think it would have been untenable politically to do more than he did."

“Gov. Dannel Malloy should be doing better in a blue state like Connecticut, but he gets only a 52 percent approval rating among his base of Democrats,” Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD., said. “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," Schwartz said.  "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.”


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