September 29, 2011 - Pennsylvania Gov Batting .500 With Voters, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Privatize State Stores, Not Parks, Voters Say Word format With an 8-point jump among women voters, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett gets a 50 - 32 percent approval rating from voters, his best score so far, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Women give him positive grades, 45 - 34 percent, up from a negative 37 - 41 percent in an August 3 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Men approve 55 - 30 percent, compared to 51 - 31 percent. Gov. Corbett wins 72 - 15 percent approval from Republicans and 52 - 32 percent approval from independent voters, while Democrats disapprove 47 - 29 percent. Pennsylvania voters like Corbett as a person 53 - 12 percent, including 49 - 14 percent among women and 58 - 10 percent among men. Even Democrats like him 39 - 19 percent with 41 percent undecided. By a narrower 42 - 37 percent, voters like Corbett's policies. And they disapprove 45 - 40 percent of the way he is handling the state budget, with independent voters disapproving 47 - 37 percent. "Gov. Tom Corbett's batting average with women and Republicans has surged, getting him to the important 50 percent benchmark in approval rating," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Compared to struggling first-term Republican Governors Rick Scott in Florida and John Kasich in Ohio, two other swing states, Gov. Corbett's .500 average makes him an all-star candidate." Pennsylvania voters say 62 - 30 percent that the economic benefits of drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale outweigh environmental concerns. Even Democrats back drilling 50 - 41 percent. Voters support 64 - 27 percent a new tax on gas drilling companies, with 51 - 37 percent support among Republicans. But voters give a mixed message on other ideas to raise revenue: Supporting 62 - 31 percent privatizing liquor stores, with support among all groups; Opposing 43 - 37 percent privatizing health care in state prisons, with Democrats and independent voters opposed and Republicans in support; Opposing 64 - 28 percent privatizing the operation of state parks. "The governor's support of drilling in the Marcellus Shale and of privatizing the state's liquor stores are in step with voters," Malloy said. "But voters want their park rangers to be state employees, rather than having the job outsourced to private contractors, and they oppose by a small margin privatizing health care for state prisoners." Pennsylvania voters approve 43 - 32 percent of the job U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey is doing. Approval is 61 - 16 percent among Republicans and 41 - 34 percent among independent voters, while Democrats disapprove 43 - 31 percent. Men approve 48 - 30 percent while women approve by a narrow 38 - 34 percent. From September 21 - 26, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,370 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.7 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. 10. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Tom Corbett is handling his job as Governor? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 50% 72% 29% 52% 55% 45% 45% Disapprove 32 15 47 32 30 34 43 DK/NA 18 13 24 15 15 22 12 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Approve 47% 35% 48% 46% 58% 53% 57% Disapprove 37 45 30 28 32 30 28 DK/NA 16 19 22 26 10 17 15 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Tom Corbett is handling his job as Governor? Sep 29 Aug 03 Jun 14 Apr 27 Feb 16 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 Approve 50 44 39 39 39 Disapprove 32 36 38 37 11 DK/NA 18 20 23 24 50 11. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 31% 44% 24% 27% 34% 27% 31% Disapprove 54 39 63 57 53 54 59 DK/NA 16 17 13 16 13 19 10 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Approve 26% 26% 30% 35% 38% 19% 33% Disapprove 56 52 55 49 49 66 53 DK/NA 18 22 16 16 13 15 14 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? (*Low also 25% Dec 2009) APPROVE..... High Low Sep 29 Aug 03 Jun 14 Jul 13 May 13 Apr 10 May 13 2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2003 2010* Approve 31 34 32 28 25 49 25 Disapprove 54 50 50 57 59 24 59 DK/NA 16 16 18 15 16 27 16 13. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Pat Toomey is handling his job as United States Senator? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 43% 61% 31% 41% 48% 38% 39% Disapprove 32 16 43 34 30 34 41 DK/NA 26 23 26 24 22 28 20 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Approve 42% 36% 44% 42% 34% 43% 48% Disapprove 30 31 29 40 30 31 28 DK/NA 28 33 27 18 36 26 24 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Pat Toomey is handling his job as United States Senator? Sep 29 Aug 02 Jun 15 Apr 28 Feb 17 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 Approve 43 44 45 43 41 Disapprove 32 31 28 25 21 DK/NA 26 25 27 31 39 18. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Pennsylvania today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Very satisfied 2% 3% 2% 2% 3% 1% 2% Smwht satisfied 41 52 32 42 44 39 39 Smwht dissatisfied 37 29 41 40 33 40 37 Very dissatisfied 19 15 23 16 19 19 22 DK/NA 1 2 1 1 1 2 - Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Very satisfied -% 1% 2% 4% 2% 2% 1% Smwht satisfied 40 38 44 43 42 31 43 Smwht dissatisfied 43 40 29 37 39 34 37 Very dissatisfied 14 20 22 16 16 33 17 DK/NA 3 2 3 - - 1 1 TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Pennsylvania today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? VERY+SMWHT SAT High Low Sep 29 Aug 03 Jun 14 Apr 27 Feb 16 Jun 05 Dec 15 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2002 2010 Very satisfied 2 3 2 2 4 8 2 Smwht satisfied 41 38 37 37 43 60 35 Smwht dissatisfied 37 36 38 33 36 22 37 Very dissatisfied 19 22 22 26 15 8 25 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 22. Regardless of how you feel about Tom Corbett's policies, would you say you like or don't like Tom Corbett as a person? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Like 53% 68% 39% 55% 58% 49% 49% Don't Like 12 5 19 11 10 14 17 DK/NA 35 27 41 34 33 37 34 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Like 55% 45% 51% 46% 53% 60% 60% Don't Like 15 13 10 13 10 14 11 DK/NA 30 43 39 41 37 26 28 TREND: Regardless of how you feel about Tom Corbett's policies, would you say you like or don't like Tom Corbett as a person? Sep 29 Aug 03 Jun 14 2011 2011 2011 Like 53 48 51 Don't Like 12 15 14 DK/NA 35 37 35 23. And regardless of how you feel about Tom Corbett as a person, would you say you like or don't like most of Tom Corbett's policies? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Like 42% 66% 22% 42% 51% 34% 39% Don't Like 37 16 54 40 34 41 46 DK/NA 20 18 23 18 15 25 14 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Like 42% 27% 36% 41% 44% 45% 52% Don't Like 40 47 43 35 32 46 31 DK/NA 19 27 21 24 24 10 17 TREND: And regardless of how you feel about Tom Corbett as a person, would you say you like or don't like most of Tom Corbett's policies? Sep 29 Aug 03 Jun 14 2011 2011 2011 Like 42 40 38 Don't Like 37 43 43 DK/NA 20 17 19 24. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Tom Corbett is handling the state budget? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 40% 61% 25% 37% 46% 34% 37% Disapprove 45 24 60 47 41 48 51 DK/NA 16 15 16 16 13 17 11 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Approve 40% 25% 35% 43% 31% 44% 47% Disapprove 46 57 47 39 53 51 38 DK/NA 14 18 18 18 16 5 15 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Tom Corbett is handling the state budget? Sep 29 Aug 03 Jun 14 Apr 27 2011 2011 2011 2011 Approve 40 41 33 35 Disapprove 45 45 52 52 DK/NA 16 14 15 13 25. Do you support or oppose a new tax on companies drilling for natural gas in the state's Marcellus Shale? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Support 64% 51% 75% 67% 64% 64% 73% Oppose 27 37 17 25 29 24 21 DK/NA 9 12 8 9 7 11 7 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Support 71% 65% 67% 59% 58% 67% 64% Oppose 23 20 21 33 33 29 26 DK/NA 6 15 11 8 9 4 10 TREND: Do you support or oppose a new tax on companies drilling for natural gas in the state's Marcellus Shale? Sep 29 Aug 03 2011 2011 Support 64 63 Oppose 27 28 DK/NA 9 8 26. Some people say there should be drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale because of the economic benefits. Others say there should not be drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale because of the environmental impact. Which comes closer to your point of view? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Drilling 62% 80% 50% 61% 70% 55% 59% No drilling 30 15 41 31 25 36 36 DK/NA 8 5 8 7 6 9 5 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Drilling 64% 47% 56% 65% 64% 67% 66% No drilling 27 45 36 28 30 26 27 DK/NA 9 8 8 7 6 7 7 TREND: Some people say, there should be drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale because of the economic benefits. Others say, there should not be drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale because of the environmental impact. Which comes closer to your point of view? Sep 29 Aug 03 Jun 14 2011 2011 2011 Drilling 62 59 63 No drilling 30 32 30 DK/NA 8 8 7 27. Do you support or oppose privatizing - The state liquor stores? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Support 62% 72% 52% 64% 67% 58% 58% Oppose 31 22 38 29 29 32 38 DK/NA 7 6 9 7 4 10 5 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Support 67% 57% 50% 69% 59% 63% 63% Oppose 27 38 37 22 37 32 30 DK/NA 6 5 13 9 4 5 7 28. Do you support or oppose privatizing - Health care in the state's prisons? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Support 37% 47% 30% 37% 40% 33% 32% Oppose 43 32 54 42 41 45 46 DK/NA 20 22 17 20 19 21 22 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Support 33% 34% 28% 39% 50% 34% 39% Oppose 47 54 46 39 32 50 40 DK/NA 19 12 26 21 18 17 21 29. Do you support or oppose privatizing - The operation of state parks? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Support 28% 36% 18% 32% 29% 27% 23% Oppose 64 57 72 60 65 63 69 DK/NA 9 7 11 8 6 11 8 Alghny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Support 30% 31% 21% 23% 31% 35% 28% Oppose 66 55 68 68 65 58 63 DK/NA 4 13 11 10 4 7 9 Demographic Summary
