Survey: Brown’s ratings high, but “big projects” questioned

Governor Jerry Brown continues to receive strong approval from voters in California http://bambawefushia.com/kontaktanonse/. The results of the latest Field Poll find nearly 56% of the state’s voters approving of Brown’s performance in office, while 32% disapprove.

Underpinning this very positive assessment is the widely held perception that Brown “has the right experience to deal with the problems facing California.” Greater than two in three voters statewide (69%) agree that this statement applies to the Governor. Majorities also concur that Brown “has the vision to lead California into the future” (54%) and “deserves credit for turning around the state’s finances” (53%).

When asked to consider three negative statements that have been made about the Governor, a 57% majority agrees with one of them – “favors too many big government projects that the state cannot afford right now.”

The complete survey and its methodology are available here.

These are the findings from the latest statewide Field Poll about voter opinions of Governor Brown. The survey was conducted by telephone among a random sample of 1,241 registered voters statewide in six languages and dialects.

After serving two terms as California’s Governor during the period 1975-1983, Brown was elected to a third term in 2010, and overwhelmingly reelected in 2014. For most of his last two years as Governor, Brown has achieved approval ratings in high fifty percent range, while about one in three disapprove.

Brown’s current ratings remain in the middle of this range, with 56% of voters approving and 32% disapproving.

Voter approval of Brown’s performance as Governor spans most of the major demographic, regional and political subgroups of the state’s electorate.
Brown’s highest approval ratings are found among Democrats (76%), voters who identify as strongly (80%) and moderately (70%) liberal, and among Northern California voters, especially those living in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area (69%).
In only two subgroups, which overlap to a large extent, Republicans and strong conservatives, do majorities give the Governor poor job marks.

The survey also asked voters to what degree they felt three positive and three negative statements applied to Brown.

A large majority (69%) agrees that the positive statement, “has the right experience to deal with the problems facing California,” applies to the Governor. Views about this cross party lines, with 79% of Democrats, 69% of non-partisans, and 55% of Republicans agreeing.

Somewhat smaller majorities also concur with two other positive statements made about the Governor – “has the vision to lead California into the future” (54%) and “deserves credit for turning around the state’s finances” (53%). Views about these two statements, however, are more partisan. While seven in ten Democrats agrees that each statement applies to the Governor, only about one in three Republicans say this.

When asked to consider three negative statements made about the Governor, a 57% majority agrees with one of them, that he “favors too many big government projects that the state cannot afford right now.” This view is held by 76% of Republicans and 56% of the state’s non-partisans, but a smaller percentage (45%) of state’s Democrats.

Less than half of voters think two other critical comments about the Governor applies to him. These include: “is not doing enough to help the average Californian” (45%) and “favors organized labor too much” (41%). Majorities of Republicans concur with each statement, but much smaller proportions of the state’s Democrats and non-partisans agree.
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Ed’s Note:  The findings in this report are based on a Field Poll completed Jan. 26-Feb. 16, 2015 among 1,241 registered voters in California. Interviews were administered by telephone using live interviewers in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin and Vietnamese. The maximum sampling error for results from the overall registered voter sample is +/- 3.2 percentage points