April 22, 2004 - Pennsylvania Gov Gets Low Marks On Issues, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; But Rendell Still Has Positive Overall Approval Pennsylvania voters give Gov. Ed Rendell negative ratings on his handling of major issues, but the Governor holds on to an overall 46 - 33 percent approval rating, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters give the State Legislature a mixed 37 - 38 percent approval. In a February 19 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN uh-pe-ack) University, Gov. Rendell had a 48 - 36 percent approval, while the State Legislature had a 40 - 39 percent approval. Pennsylvania voters give Rendell a split 39 - 40 percent approval for handling education and negative ratings for other key issues: 31 - 43 percent for the state budget; 34 - 51 percent for taxes; 29 - 50 percent for property taxes; 35 - 49 percent for the economy and jobs. "Gov. Rendell's approval rating continues to hover just under the 50 percent mark, but there are signs voters think it's time for action on the major issues facing Pennsylvania," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "A majority of Pennsylvania voters disapprove of Rendell's handling of taxes in general, and property taxes in particular - an indication they want him to fulfill his campaign promise of property tax reform. In fact, the Governor gets negative ratings for his handling of other major issues as well - the state budget and the economy and jobs, and scrapes by with a tie on education," Richards added. "But the State Legislature's approval rating continues about 10 points lower than the Governor, an indication voters believe that the lawmakers are more to blame than the Governor for holding up action on the major issues." Pennsylvania's economy is "excellent" or "good," 37 percent of voters say, as 61 percent say it is "not so good" or "poor." The economy will get better in the next year, 29 percent of voters say, while 14 percent say it will get worse and 53 percent say it will stay the same. A total of 50 percent of Pennsylvania voters are "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" that they or someone in their family will lose their job in the next year. Voters are evenly divided, 38 percent each, on whether they are better off or worse off than they were a year ago, with 24 percent saying things haven't changed. From April 13 - 19, Quinnipiac University surveyed 769 Pennsylvania registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and the nation as a public service and for research. For additional data -- www.quinnipiac.edu and quicklinks TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling his job as Governor? App Dis DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 46 33 22 Mar 18, 2004 46 35 19 Feb 19, 2004 48 36 16 Dec 16, 2003 46 34 19 Oct 16, 2003 50 28 22 Aug 6, 2003 51 29 21 May 23, 2003 49 27 24 Apr 10, 2003 51 19 30 Feb 20, 2003 54 12 33 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? App Dis DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 37 38 25 Mar 18, 2004 40 40 20 Feb 19, 2004 40 39 21 Dec 16, 2003 38 44 18 Oct 16, 2003 43 37 19 Aug 6, 2003 41 39 20 May 23, 2003 45 33 22 Apr 10, 2003 49 24 27 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Arlen Specter is handling his job as United States Senator? App Dis DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 47 36 17 Mar 18, 2004 49 36 15 Feb 18, 2004 53 32 15 Dec 17, 2003 57 31 12 Oct 15, 2003 54 31 16 Aug 7, 2003 57 27 16 May 22, 2003 60 25 15 Apr 10, 2003 59 22 19 Feb 21, 2003 60 21 19 Sept. 18, 2002 58 24 18 Jul 24, 2002 56 24 20 Jun 5, 2002 56 23 21 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rick Santorum is handling his job as United States Senator? App Dis DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 47 30 22 Mar 18, 2004 51 28 21 Feb 18, 2004 53 27 20 Dec 17, 2003 56 29 15 Oct 15, 2003 54 28 18 Aug 7, 2003 56 28 17 May 22, 2003 55 33 12 Apr 10, 2003 55 20 24 Feb 21, 2003 56 21 24 Sept. 18, 2002 54 21 25 Jul 24, 2002 54 22 24 Jun 5, 2002 52 22 26 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 Smwht Very sat sat dis dis DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 5 56 26 11 1 Mar 18, 2004 4 46 33 15 2 Feb 19,2004 4 45 33 17 1 Dec 16, 2003 4 50 28 17 1 Oct 16, 2003 5 51 30 13 1 Aug 6, 2003 4 53 30 12 1 May 23, 2003 5 53 28 13 2 Apr 10, 2003 7 59 25 8 2 Feb 20, 2003 7 56 25 9 2 Jun 5, 2002 8 60 22 8 3 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling -- education? App Dis DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 39 40 21 Dec 16, 2003 44 38 19 May 23, 2003 46 35 19 Apr 10, 2003 48 28 24 Feb 20, 2003 50 18 32 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling -- taxes? App Dis DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 34 51 15 Dec 16, 2003 37 48 16 Feb 20, 2003 34 36 30 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling -- property taxes? App Dis DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 29 50 21 Feb 20, 2003 33 33 34 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling -- the state budget? App Dis DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 31 43 26 Feb 20, 2003 39 21 39 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling -- the economy and jobs? App Dis DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 35 49 16 Feb 20, 2003 40 26 34 TREND: Would you describe the state of Pennsylvania's economy these days as: Excellent, good, not so good, or poor? Nt So Exlnt Good Good Poor DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 1 36 46 15 2 Mar 18, 2004 - 30 47 19 3 Feb 18, 2004 1 31 45 22 1 Dec 16, 2003 1 33 43 21 2 Apr 10, 2003 2 38 44 14 2 Feb 20, 2003 1 33 46 19 1 TREND: During the next 12 months, do you think the economic conditions in Pennsylvania will get better, get worse, or stay about the same? Stay Better Worse Same DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 29 14 53 5 Mar 18, 2004 28 12 55 5 Feb 18, 2004 30 15 51 4 Dec 16, 2003 35 15 47 3 Apr 10, 2003 30 17 50 3 Feb 20, 2003 28 23 44 4 TREND: Would you say that you are better off or worse off financially than you were a year ago? Better Worse SAME DK/NA Apr 22, 2004 38 38 24 1 Mar 17, 2004 38 36 24 2 Feb 18, 2004 36 39 23 1 Dec 16, 2003 38 35 27 1 Apr 10, 2003 37 36 26 1 Feb 20, 2003 35 42 23 1 1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling his job as Governor? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 46% 36% 60% 40% 44% 47% 46% Disapprove 33 40 21 40 37 29 38 DK/NA 22 23 19 21 20 24 16 2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 37% 40% 38% 33% 33% 41% 35% Disapprove 38 31 41 47 42 35 42 DK/NA 25 29 21 20 25 24 22 3. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Arlen Specter is handling his job as United States Senator? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 47% 52% 46% 43% 48% 45% 46% Disapprove 36 31 38 39 36 36 41 DK/NA 17 17 16 19 16 19 13 4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rick Santorum is handling his job as United States Senator? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 47% 69% 31% 43% 49% 46% 49% Disapprove 30 12 45 38 30 30 31 DK/NA 22 19 23 19 21 23 20 14. 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 5% 6% 6% 4% 5% 5% 3% Smwht satisfied 56 61 53 52 54 58 47 Smwht dissatisfied 26 22 29 33 30 23 34 Very dissatisfied 11 10 11 10 11 12 15 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 16. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling -- the state budget? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 31% 27% 41% 27% 29% 34% 27% Disapprove 43 46 31 56 51 36 49 DK/NA 26 27 28 17 21 30 25 17. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling -- education? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 39% 36% 48% 35% 38% 40% 34% Disapprove 40 42 36 45 44 37 51 DK/NA 21 22 16 20 18 23 15 18. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling -- taxes? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 34% 28% 42% 35% 33% 35% 40% Disapprove 51 57 44 54 55 48 52 DK/NA 15 15 14 11 12 18 8 19. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling -- the economy and jobs? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 35% 35% 41% 32% 33% 37% 37% Disapprove 49 48 46 56 52 46 54 DK/NA 16 18 13 12 15 17 9 20. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling -- property taxes? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 29% 26% 35% 32% 29% 30% 35% Disapprove 50 56 43 52 55 46 52 DK/NA 21 19 22 17 17 24 13 21. Would you describe the state of Pennsylvania's economy these days as: excellent, good, not so good or poor? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Excellent 1% 1% 1% 1% 2% - 2% Good 36 42 34 32 34 37 28 Not so good 46 46 45 46 47 46 55 Poor 15 9 17 20 16 15 14 DK/NA 2 2 3 - 1 2 - 22. During the next 12 months, do you think the economic conditions in Pennsylvania will get better, get worse, or stay about the same? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Get better 29% 34% 29% 23% 33% 26% 24% Get worse 14 8 15 19 13 15 18 Stay the same 53 54 51 54 52 53 52 DK/NA 5 3 5 4 2 7 6 23. Would you say that you are better off or worse off financially than you were a year ago? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Better off 38% 44% 33% 33% 42% 34% 36% Worse off 38 32 40 43 40 36 42 SAME(VOL) 24 24 26 24 18 29 21 DK/NA 1 - 1 - - 1 1 24. How concerned are you that you or someone in your family will lose their job in the next year or so - very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned, or not concerned at all? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Very concerned 27% 19% 35% 27% 24% 29% 35% Smwht concerned 23 23 26 22 24 22 32 Not too concerned 24 27 20 24 22 26 15 Not concerned at all 24 30 16 26 28 21 18 DK/NA 2 2 3 1 1 2 1
