Raleigh, N.C. – Voters in Arizona are unhappy with how Jan Brewer has handled redistricting in the state, and perhaps as a result PPP finds her approval numbers at their worst since before she resuscitated her political career with Senate Bill 1070 last April.
Only 31% of voters support Brewer removing Colleen Mathis as chair of the Redistricting Commission, to 43% who oppose her move. Republican agree with what Brewer did by a 54/16 margin but Democrats are even more unified in their displeasure with her action, 13/72. Independents think Brewer did the wrong thing by a 19/41 margin as well.
The unhappiness with Brewer’s actions shouldn’t be taken as an endorsement by the Arizona electorate of the Congressional maps that the Commission proposed. Only 25% of voters express support for the proposed lines with 34% opposed to them and an unsurprising 42% holding no opinion on this decidedly insider baseball issue.
Brewer’s approval rating has sunk to 42% with 49% of voters disapproving of her. The last time PPP found her with numbers that bad was in April of 2010, shortly before the signing of Senate Bill 1070, when she was at 35/46. There are two things helping to drive Brewer’s poor ratings: Democrats (77%) are more unified in their disapproval of her than Republicans (69%) are in their approval and independents split against her by a 34/51 margin as well.
Despite Brewer’s declining poll numbers there’s little support for a recall of her. Only 32% of voters would support such a move to 58% who are opposed. There are a lot of voters don’t like Brewer, but don’t think she should be removed from office either.
“Arizonans are pretty unhappy with how Jan Brewer has handled the Redistricting Commission,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “But they’re not so unhappy that they want to recall her from office.”
PPP surveyed 500 Arizona voters from November 17th to 20th. The margin of error for the survey is +/-4.4%. This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews. PPP is a Democratic polling company, but polling expert Nate Silver of the New York Times found that its surveys in 2010 actually exhibited a slight bias toward Republican candidates.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Jan
Brewer’s job performance?
Approve…………….. 42%
Disapprove………… 49%
Not sure ……………. 9%
Q2 Do you support or oppose Jan Brewer’s
decision to impeach Colleen Mathis as chair of
the Arizona Independent Redistricting
Commission?
Support …………….. 31%
Oppose …………….. 43%
Not sure ……………. 26%
Q3 Would you support or oppose recalling
Governor Jan Brewer from office?
Support …………….. 32%
Oppose …………….. 58%
Not sure ……………. 10%
Q4 Do you support or oppose the Congressional
redistricting lines that the Independent
Commission passed in October?
Support …………….. 25%
Oppose …………….. 34%
Not sure ……………. 42%
Q5 Were you happy or unhappy that State Senate
President Russell Pearce was recalled from
office last week?
Happy……………….. 47%
Unhappy……………. 28%
Not sure ……………. 25%
Q6 Do you support or oppose Senate Bill 1070, the
immigration law that was passed last year?
Support …………….. 57%
Oppose …………….. 35%
Not sure ……………. 8%
Q7 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator John
McCain’s job performance?
Approve …………….. .34%
Disapprove…………. .55%
Not sure …………….. .10%
Q8 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Jon
Kyl’s job performance?
Approve …………….. .41%
Disapprove…………. .44%
Not sure …………….. .14%
Q9 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Joe Arpaio?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 47%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%
Q10 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Gabby Giffords?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 61%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 17%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 22%
Q11 Do you think Gabby Giffords should run for reelection
next year, or not?
She should run for re-election……………………. 32%
She should not………………………………………… 46%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 22%
Q12 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 13%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 17%
Moderate………………………………………………… 25%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 25%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 21%
Q13 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 53%
Man……………………………………………………….. 47%
Q14 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 38%
Republican……………………………………………… 41%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 21%
Q15 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If other, press 3.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 16%
White …………………………………………………….. 76%
Other……………………………………………………… 8%
Q16 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 45………………………………………………….. 12%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 26%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 42%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 20%
