August 5, 2011 - Florida Gov's Approval Goes From Terrible To Bad, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Back Caylee's Law 6-1 Word format Although Gov. Rick Scott's job approval among Florida voters remains seriously below water, his negative 35 - 52 percent score is an improvement from a negative 29 - 57 percent in May, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Florida voters continue to give Gov. Scott negative ratings on his handling of the state budget, its fairness to average voters and about him personally, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Only one quarter of Florida voters know that the budget passed by the State Legislature and signed by Scott does not raise taxes. "Given that voters say 58 - 29 percent they favor a budget approach that only cuts spending, rather than a combination of tax increases and spending cuts, it would seem that Gov. Rick Scott and his aides have failed to get their message out," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Gov. Scott still has a long hike to parity in voter approval, but he has begun the trek. Whether it is the beginning of a serious move or just a blip, time will tell." Scott gets thumbs up from Republicans 61 - 23 percent, compared to 51 - 37 percent in May. Disapproval is 78 - 14 percent from Democrats, little changed from May, and 50 - 33 percent from independents, compared to 57 - 28 percent in May. Men disapprove 46 - 40 percent, an improvement on May's 53 - 35 percent, and women disapprove 58 - 30 percent, better than May's 60 - 24 percent. "The improvement in Scott's numbers comes primarily from those who would be expected to support him, Republicans and men. But he still has a long way to go to reach the numbers that historically back Republicans," Brown added. "Making those voters aware he had kept his no-new-taxes pledge would seem to be the best way to win them back," Brown said. "He also must improve voter opinion of him personally." Only 24 percent of Florida voters say the new budget signed into law by Scott does not raise taxes, while 19 percent say it does raise taxes and 57 percent don't know. Florida voters say 45 - 34 percent that they do not like Scott as a person. This is the highest 'dislike' seen in any state surveyed by Quinnipiac University this year. Voters tend to like their governor, even when they disapprove of the job he or she is doing. Florida voters like President Barack Obama as a person 69 - 18 percent, but disapprove 51 - 44 percent of the job he is doing, as reported yesterday. Scott has other bad grades on his report card: Voters dislike his policies 54 - 34 percent; Voters disapprove 57 - 32 percent of his handling of the state budget; 42 percent say budget cuts went too far, as 20 percent say not far enough and 25 percent say the cuts are about right; Voters say 39 - 26 percent that spending cuts in the budget will hurt, rather than help, the Florida economy; Voters say 51 - 33 percent that the new state budget is unfair to them. "The governor needs to convince voters that his budget was fair to average folks and make sure they know it didn't raise taxes," said Brown. Voters support 83 - 14 percent "Caylee's Law," a proposal in the State Legislature to make not reporting a child's disappearance a felony. There is strong support among all groups and in every region of the state. From July 27 - August 2, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,417 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, 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. 7. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rick Scott is handling his job as Governor? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Approve 35% 61% 14% 33% 40% 30% 49% Disapprove 52 23 78 50 46 58 37 DK/NA 14 15 8 17 14 13 15 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Approve 40% 7% 37% 36% 29% 37% 35% 33% Disapprove 48 79 44 49 56 51 48 61 DK/NA 12 13 19 15 15 12 16 7 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rick Scott is handling his job as Governor? Aug 05 May 25 Apr 06 Feb 02 2011 2011 2011 2011 Approve 35 29 35 35 Disapprove 52 57 48 22 DK/NA 14 14 17 43 8. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Approve 32% 53% 18% 31% 38% 27% 43% Disapprove 51 28 67 52 45 56 35 DK/NA 17 20 16 17 17 17 22 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Approve 33% 18% 43% 43% 28% 30% 32% 33% Disapprove 49 68 39 39 58 52 49 56 DK/NA 17 14 18 18 14 18 19 11 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? APPROVE....... High Low Aug 05 May 25 Apr 06 Aug 19 Jul 30 Sep 23 May 25 2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2004 2011 Approve 32 27 35 30 30 51 27 Disapprove 51 56 47 56 54 34 56 DK/NA 17 17 18 14 17 15 17 14. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Florida today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Very satisfied 4% 10% 1% 2% 6% 3% 4% Smwht satisfied 33 47 24 30 38 29 42 Smwht dissatisfied 28 26 31 30 29 28 31 Very dissatisfied 33 17 42 38 27 39 21 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Very satisfied 4% - 8% 5% 4% 4% 4% 3% Smwht satisfied 35 22 34 39 27 33 34 31 Smwht dissatisfied 29 28 27 30 32 27 28 29 Very dissatisfied 31 50 31 26 37 35 32 37 DK/NA 1 1 - - 1 2 1 1 TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Florida today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied? (*combined High also 63% Sep 2004) (**combined Low also 37% Apr 2008) VERY+SMWHT.... High Low Aug 05 May 25 Apr 06 Feb 02 Jun 09 Feb 24 Aug 05 2011 2011 2011 2011 2009 2005* 2011** Very satisfied 4 3 3 3 6 15 4 Smwht satisfied 33 36 36 44 45 48 33 Smwht dissatisfied 28 32 34 34 33 22 28 Very dissatisfied 33 29 26 19 15 15 33 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 20. Regardless of how you feel about Rick Scott's policies, would you say you like or don't like Rick Scott as a person? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Like 34% 48% 23% 33% 39% 30% 43% Don't Like 45 25 65 43 42 47 32 DK/NA 21 27 12 24 19 23 25 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Like 33% 26% 50% 38% 33% 34% 37% 28% Don't Like 45 59 35 41 48 45 41 54 DK/NA 23 15 15 21 19 22 22 18 21. And regardless of how you feel about Rick Scott as a person, would you say you like or don't like most of Rick Scott's policies? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Like 34% 60% 10% 36% 41% 27% 50% Don't Like 54 25 81 52 48 60 38 DK/NA 12 15 9 13 10 13 11 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Like 40% 10% 34% 34% 33% 35% 34% 33% Don't Like 50 80 49 52 57 55 51 62 DK/NA 11 9 17 15 10 11 15 4 22. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rick Scott is handling the state budget? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Approve 32% 57% 11% 33% 41% 25% 49% Disapprove 57 29 82 54 49 63 38 DK/NA 11 13 7 13 10 12 14 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Approve 38% 13% 30% 29% 30% 35% 32% 32% Disapprove 51 80 58 58 59 54 55 61 DK/NA 11 7 12 12 11 11 13 7 ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME... <30K 30-50 50-100 >100K Approve 23% 28% 42% 42% Disapprove 64 59 49 52 DK/NA 14 12 9 6 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rick Scott is handling the state budget? Aug 05 May 25 Apr 06 2011 2011 2011 Approve 32 30 36 Disapprove 57 59 55 DK/NA 11 11 9 23. Do you think the new state budget is fair or unfair to people like you? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Fair 33% 53% 17% 35% 41% 27% 48% Unfair 51 29 70 49 44 57 37 DK/NA 16 18 13 16 15 17 15 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Fair 39% 14% 31% 31% 32% 36% 32% 36% Unfair 45 74 55 52 56 47 51 49 DK/NA 16 13 14 17 12 17 16 15 ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME... <30K 30-50 50-100 >100K Fair 23% 28% 41% 54% Unfair 63 54 46 35 DK/NA 14 18 12 11 TREND: Do you think the new state budget is fair or unfair to people like you? Aug 05 May 25 2011 2011 Fair 33 29 Unfair 51 54 DK/NA 16 16 24. What do you think about the cuts in state spending in the new budget? Do you think the cuts in state spending go too far, not far enough or are they about right? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Too far 42% 22% 61% 42% 35% 48% 26% Not far enough 20 28 11 21 25 16 26 About right 25 36 19 23 26 23 33 DK/NA 13 14 10 14 14 12 15 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Too far 38% 60% 40% 41% 46% 40% 39% 50% Not far enough 21 8 30 18 24 20 21 19 About right 27 21 20 27 18 27 26 23 DK/NA 13 11 10 15 13 12 15 8 TREND: What do you think about the cuts in state spending in the new budget? Do you think the cuts in state spending go too far, not far enough or are they about right? Aug 05 May 25 2011 2011 Too far 42 47 Not far enough 20 18 About right 25 22 DK/NA 13 13 25. Do you think that the new spending cuts will help Florida's economy, hurt Florida's economy, or not make a difference? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Help 26% 49% 12% 23% 31% 22% 40% Hurt 39 20 55 37 33 44 25 No difference 28 26 28 28 28 27 28 DK/NA 8 6 5 12 8 7 7 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Help 29% 14% 29% 25% 27% 26% 27% 23% Hurt 34 56 42 40 37 38 37 42 No difference 29 25 23 28 27 27 28 28 DK/NA 8 6 6 7 9 8 8 7 TREND: Do you think that the new spending cuts will help Florida's economy, hurt Florida's economy, or not make a difference? Aug 05 May 25 2011 2011 Help 26 23 Hurt 39 38 No difference 28 31 DK/NA 8 8 26. Do you think the new state budget signed by Governor Scott raises taxes or not, or don't you know? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Raises taxes 19% 14% 26% 16% 15% 22% 13% Does not raise taxes 24 27 20 26 28 21 26 Don't know 57 59 54 58 56 58 61 REFUSED - - - 1 - - - AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Raises taxes 15% 33% 18% 19% 22% 16% 19% 18% Does not raise taxes 27 13 22 13 28 28 18 41 Don't know 57 54 60 67 50 56 63 41 REFUSED - - - - - - - 1 27. Which comes closer to your view regarding the Florida budget: A) It is a good thing that taxes were not raised and the budget deficit was closed by just spending cuts OR B) Taxes should have been raised so there would have been fewer spending cuts? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Only cuts 58% 80% 46% 53% 57% 58% 68% Taxes/Fewer cuts 29 11 41 31 32 26 19 DK/NA 14 9 14 16 11 16 13 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Only cuts 58% 61% 56% 64% 59% 54% 61% 48% Taxes/Fewer cuts 30 23 31 26 28 30 24 40 DK/NA 12 16 13 10 13 16 14 13 28. As you may know, there is a proposal in the state legislature that would make it a felony offense for a parent who fails to report a missing child in a timely manner. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Good idea 83% 84% 85% 82% 81% 85% 89% Bad idea 14 13 13 14 16 12 9 DK/NA 3 3 2 4 3 4 2 AGE IN YEARS..... COLLEGE DEGREE White Black Hisp 18-34 35-54 55+ No Yes Good idea 84% 81% 85% 82% 87% 82% 87% 72% Bad idea 13 15 15 14 11 15 10 23 DK/NA 3 4 1 3 2 3 3 5 HaveChildren Under 18 Good idea 87% Bad idea 9 DK/NA 4 Demographic Summary
