September 15, 2011 - Connecticut Gov Still Under Water Despite Irene, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Give Power Companies Good Grades Word format Despite an overwhelming 79 - 10 percent approval rating for the way he handled the response to Tropical Storm Irene, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy still has a negative 41 - 48 percent overall job approval rating, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This compares to a negative 38 - 44 percent approval rating in a June 15 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Today, Democrats approve 56 - 35 percent while Republicans disapprove 68 - 21 percent and independent voters split 43 - 45 percent. Men disapprove 50 - 43 percent while women disapprove 46 - 40 percent. By a 45 - 23 percent margin, Connecticut voters like Gov. Malloy as a person, but dislike his policies 50 - 36 percent. Malloy's gale-force grades for handling Irene are offset by his approval ratings on everyday matters: Voters disapprove 55 - 36 percent of the way he is handling the state budget; Voters disapprove 49 - 40 percent of his handling of public employee unions. "Tropical Storm Irene put no wind in Gov. Dannel Malloy's sails," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD. "Connecticut voters liked the way he responded to the storm, but this doesn't translate into a positive overall job approval rating." "Gov. Malloy might be envious of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who apparently did get an Irene bounce. "Almost half of Connecticut voters turn thumbs down on Malloy, with an even bigger negative for his handling of the state budget. Even among his Democratic base about a third disapprove of the job he is doing." Connecticut voters approve 61 - 32 percent of the way the state's utilities handled the response to Irene, with consistent scores among all parties and among men and women. Even people who lost power approve of the utilities, except for a 55 - 41 percent disapproval among those without power six days or more. Utilities restored power in a "reasonable" amount of time, 67 percent of voters say, while 28 percent say "it was too slow and there's no excuse." Even those without power six days or more say 51 - 45 percent that restoration was reasonable. "Connecticut voters are very understanding of their utility companies," Dr. Schwartz said. "Two-thirds think the length of time it took to restore power was reasonable given the extent of the damage. That understanding, however, dropped with each day without power." Tropical Storm Irene was a "serious problem," 12 percent of voters say, while 62 percent say it was an "inconvenience" and 25 percent say it did not affect them. From September 8 - 13, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,230 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points. Live interviewers call landlines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 17. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Dannel Malloy is handling his job as Governor? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 41% 21% 56% 43% 43% 40% Disapprove 48 68 35 45 50 46 DK/NA 11 12 9 11 7 14 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Dannel Malloy is handling his job as Governor? Sep 15 Jun 15 Mar 09 2011 2011 2011 Approve 41 38 35 Disapprove 48 44 40 DK/NA 11 18 25 18. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 27% 15% 41% 24% 27% 26% Disapprove 57 74 43 56 63 52 DK/NA 16 10 17 19 10 22 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? APPROVE....... High Low Sep 15 Jun 15 Jul 16 Jun 10 Mar 18 Jun 3 Sep 15 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 2004 2011 Approve 27 33 28 29 28 48 27 Disapprove 57 50 58 57 59 33 57 DK/NA 16 17 14 14 13 19 16 22. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Connecticut today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Very satisfied 2% 1% 3% - 1% 2% Smwht satisfied 27 9 44 24 25 29 Smwht dissatisfied 39 37 33 44 41 36 Very dissatisfied 32 52 19 31 33 32 DK/NA 1 1 - 1 - 1 TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Connecticut today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? VERY+SMWHT SAT High Low Sep 15 Jun 15 Mar 09 Jul 15 Jun 10 Oct 21 Sep 15 2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 1998 2011 Very satisfied 2 4 2 3 2 21 2 Smwht satisfied 27 30 29 38 42 62 27 Smwht dissatisfied 39 32 35 37 36 14 39 Very dissatisfied 32 35 33 22 19 3 32 DK/NA 1 - 1 1 1 - 1 24. Regardless of how you feel about Dannel Malloy's policies, would you say you like or don't like Dannel Malloy as a person? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Like 45% 30% 60% 43% 50% 40% Don't Like 23 35 15 22 24 22 DK/NA 33 35 24 35 26 39 TREND: Regardless of how you feel about Dannel Malloy's policies, would you say you like or don't like Dannel Malloy as a person? Sep 15 Jun 15 2011 2011 Like 45 48% Don't Like 23 18 DK/NA 33 34 25. And regardless of how you feel about Dannel Malloy as a person, would you say you like or don't like most of Dannel Malloy's policies? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Like 36% 15% 49% 39% 40% 33% Don't Like 50 72 37 48 51 50 DK/NA 14 13 14 13 10 17 TREND: And regardless of how you feel about Dannel Malloy as a person, would you say you like or don't like most of Dannel Malloy's policies? Sep 15 Jun 15 2011 2011 Like 36 37% Don't Like 50 50 DK/NA 14 13 26. Turning to Connecticut's state budget... Do you approve or disapprove of the way Dannel Malloy is handling the budget? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 36% 19% 52% 35% 43% 31% Disapprove 55 72 40 55 53 56 DK/NA 9 8 8 10 5 13 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Dannel Malloy is handling the budget? Sep 15 Jun 15 Mar 09 2011 2011 2011 Approve 36 36 32 Disapprove 55 52 51 DK/NA 9 13 16 27. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Dannel Malloy handled negotiations with the state's public employee unions? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 40% 31% 48% 41% 46% 34% Disapprove 49 58 41 49 46 51 DK/NA 12 11 11 10 8 15 28. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Dannel Malloy handled the response to Tropical Storm Irene? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 79% 74% 84% 81% 82% 77% Disapprove 10 14 8 8 10 11 DK/NA 10 12 7 11 8 12 DAYS WITHOUT POWER Q30........ One day None or less 2-3 4-5 6+ Approve 84% 78% 79% 80% 71% Disapprove 9 9 8 13 18 DK/NA 7 13 13 8 11 29. Do you approve or disapprove or the way Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating, the two utility companies, handled the response to Tropical Storm Irene? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 61% 59% 61% 62% 62% 61% Disapprove 32 31 32 32 32 31 DK/NA 7 9 7 5 6 8 DAYS WITHOUT POWER Q30........ One day None or less 2-3 4-5 6+ Approve 64% 69% 65% 60% 41% Disapprove 28 25 30 34 55 DK/NA 9 6 4 6 4 30. Did you lose power at your home due to Tropical Storm Irene? IF YES: Did you lose power for less than a day, one day, or more than one day? IF MORE THAN ONE DAY: How many days did you lose power? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Did not lose power 40% 36% 44% 40% 39% 42% One day or less 14 13 13 15 16 12 Two-Three days 19 20 19 17 19 19 Four-Five days 15 20 15 13 15 15 Six days+ 11 10 8 14 10 11 DK/NA 1 1 - 1 2 1 31. (If lost power q30) Did you happen to have use of a generator during the time you were without power? LOST POWER Q30 Tot Yes 29% No 71 DK/NA - 32. Which comes closer to your view about the length of time it took to restore power throughout Connecticut - It was reasonable given the extent of damage, OR It was too slow and there's no excuse? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Reasonable 67% 70% 68% 65% 68% 66% Too slow, no excuse 28 25 29 31 28 28 DK/NA 4 5 3 4 3 5 DAYS WITHOUT POWER Q30........ One day None or less 2-3 4-5 6+ Reasonable 66% 77% 74% 68% 51% Too slow, no excuse 28 20 24 31 45 DK/NA 6 3 2 1 4 33. Would you say that Tropical Storm Irene was a serious problem for you personally, an inconvenience for you but not a serious problem, or didn't Tropical Storm Irene affect you? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Serious problem 12% 12% 10% 13% 10% 14% Inconvenience 62 65 64 61 68 57 Didn't affect me 25 23 26 25 21 29 DK/NA 1 1 - 1 1 - DAYS WITHOUT POWER Q30........ One day None or less 2-3 4-5 6+ Serious problem 5% 6% 14% 20% 34% Inconvenience 44 71 81 79 64 Didn't affect me 49 23 5 1 3 DK/NA 2 - - - - Demographic Summary
