Poll: Feinstein’s job approval ratings remain underwater

The latest Berkeley IGS Poll finds that for the second time in four months more of the state’s registered voters disapprove than approve of Dianne Feinstein’s job performance as U.S. Senator.  In a statewide poll completed last week 46% of voters said they disapproved of the job Feinstein was doing, while just 35% approve.  Another 19% have no opinion.   The poll’s late January measure showed similar results.

Feinstein, 87, is currently serving her fifth term in the U.S. Senate.  Throughout her more than two-decade tenure in office she had consistently received more positive than negative job performance marks from the state’s voters, typically by wide margins. However, results from each of the Berkeley IGS Polls conducted this year find that voter opinions of Feinstein have taken a decidedly negative turn.

Of those surveyed, more said they disapprove of the job Feinstein is doing (46%) than approve (35%), while 19% had no opinion.

Although the latest poll finds that Feinstein’s job approval decline spans virtually all segments of the state’s registered voter population when compared to the ratings she received in December 2017, the steepest declines have been among the state’s liberals and voters under the age of 40.

IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler commented, “Feinstein’s decline among liberals and young voters suggest that core Democratic constituencies are now less likely to view her as an effective advocate.”

By contrast, when voters are asked about the job that newly appointed U.S. Senator Alex Padilla is doing, more rate him positively (34%) than negatively (20%), although a relatively large proportion (46%) has no opinion.  Padilla’s largest source of support comes from Latino (48%) and Black (37%) voters, who rate the junior Senator about twenty and ten points higher than Whites.

IGS Co-Director G. Cristina Mora notes that “Senator Padilla’s strong support among Latino and Black voters seems to reflect his ability to personally connect with communities of color.  The son of a Mexican-immigrant short-order cook, Padilla has spent much of the first four months of his Senate term working on legislation that affects immigrant and working-class families.”

Padilla, 48, formerly served as California Secretary of State, State Senator and Los Angeles City Council President before Governor Gavin Newsom appointed him to fill the vacancy left by Kamala Harris, after she was elected Vice President in last year’s presidential election.  He is the first California Latino to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Feinstein’s ratings remain underwater, while initial assessments of Padilla are positive
When the state’s registered voters are asked to assess the job performance of the state’s two U.S. Senators, more report that they disapprove of the job Feinstein is doing (46%) than approve (35%), while 19% have no opinion.

Last January the Berkeley IGS Poll reported that for the first time more voters disapproved of the job Feinstein was doing than approved by a 45% to 35% margin.

By contrast, Padilla, who has only been in office for three months, receives generally positive reviews from the voting public, with 34% approving and 20% disapproving, although nearly half of state’s voters (46%) have yet to form an opinion of him.

The trend of Feinstein’s job performance ratings over the years
Feinstein was first elected to the Senate in 1992, the so-called “year of the woman” in California politics, when both she and fellow Democrat Barbara Boxer won election as the first women ever to represent California in that body.

Throughout her long tenure Feinstein has generally received positive job performance marks from the statewide electorate, and in some years was rated positively by greater than two-to-one margins.  However, in recent years she has come under increasing criticism from voters.

Last January the Berkeley IGS Poll reported that for the first time more voters disapproved of the job Feinstein was doing than approved by a 45% to 35% margin.  The latest poll finds similar results, with 46% now reporting that they disapprove of her performance, while 35% approve.

Feinstein’s recent ratings decline steepest among liberals and voters under age 40
Although the latest poll finds that Feinstein’s job approval decline spans virtually all segments of the state’s registered voter population, when compared to the ratings she received in December 2017, the steepest declines have been among the state’s liberals and voters under the age of 40.

For example, three and one-half years ago 70% of liberal voters said they approved of the job Feinstein was doing in the Senate.  However, the latest poll finds fewer than half of the state’s liberals (47%) saying they approve, a 23-percentage point decline.

More voters across all age groups rate her performance negatively than positively, as do pluralities of men and women.

Feinstein’s job approval rating has also declined 21 points among voters age 30-39 and 17 points among voters age under age 30.

The breadth of Feinstein’s job ratings decline is also demonstrated by these other findings from the latest poll:

Only about half of the state’s Democrats (53%) now approve of the job Feinstein is doing.  In addition, her approval rating among the state’s independent or No Party Preference voters is just 28%.

Feinstein’s job ratings are underwater in every major region of the state, including her home region, the San Francisco Bay Area, where 37% of voters approve and 45% disapprove.

More voters across all age groups rate her performance negatively than positively, as do pluralities of men and women.

While more Latinos continue to approve than disapprove of the job Feinstein is doing, whites rate her negatively five to three.

Initial appraisals of Padilla’s performance, while highly partisan, are more positive than negative across most voter subgroups
Given the highly partisan state of politics in both the state and the nation, it is not surprising that initial voter appraisals of the job that Democratic Senator Padilla is doing are highly partisan. Nearly all of the Democrats polled who were able to offer an opinion rate him positively (53% to 3%).  The opposite is true among the state’s Republican voters, who disapprove of Padilla’s performance 52% to 8%.  Similar wide differences are seen between the state’s liberal voters and conservatives.

Yet, Padilla obtains more positive than negative appraisals across virtually all other major segments of the registered voter population.

Voters across all age and gender segments offer generally positive reviews of the Padilla, although a majority of younger voters have not yet formed an opinion.

Regionally, he does best among voters in Los Angeles County, his home region.  More voters also approve than disapprove of Padilla across each of the state’s other regions, with the exception of voters in the state’s sparsely populated North Coast/Sierras counties.

Latinos offer a very positive assessment of the state’s first Latino U.S. Senator, with nearly four times as many approving (48%) as disapproving (13%) of his performance.  Yet, Padilla also receives generally positive assessments from each of the state’s other major racial segments, especially among Black voters.

Voters across all age and gender segments offer generally positive reviews of the Senator, although a majority of younger voters have not yet formed an opinion.
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Editor’s Note: The findings in this survey are based on polling completed by the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) at the University of California, Berkeley. Funding for the poll was provided in part by the Los Angeles Times. Results are based on the responses of 5,036 California registered voters.  The survey was administered online in English and Spanish April 29 – May 5, 2021 by distributing email invitations to random samples of voters.