Poll: Branstad’s approval rating narrows; Grassley heavy favorite
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who recently issued controversial vetoes to slash an education funding bill and reject plans to keep open the Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute, has had a dip in his approval rating, according to a statewide poll released Monday.
The Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll says Iowa voters give Branstad a 48-43 percent job approval rating, which is the lowest approval rating for the long-time governor since Quinnipiac University began surveys there in 2013.
The poll also says U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-New Hartford, has a healthy 68-21 approval rating and voters say 54-33 percent that he deserves reelection in 2016. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Red Oak, who won election last fall, gets a 52-32 percent approval rating.
Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, remarked, “Iowans seem to like their political leaders, with U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley looking like a strong re-election bet and U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst off to a good start. Even four in 10 Democrats think Grassley deserves another term.”
Brown added, “Gov. Terry Branstad’s approval rating is down, after winning re-election last November with 59 percent of the vote.”
The Quinnipiac poll shows a sharp partisan divide in support for Branstad. Republicans approve Branstad by a 75-15 percent margin, while Democrats disapprove of his job by 70-23 percent. Independent voters are divided as 47 percent approve and 44 percent disapprove.
The poll was conducted July 9-20 and surveyed 1,236 Iowa voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. Live interviewers called land lines and cell phones.
Branstad upset many Democratic legislators and school officials in early July when he vetoed a $55.7 million education appropriation for Iowa school districts. The governor objected to the one-time nature of the school spending, and he expressed frustration that legislators didn’t approve school funding for a second state fiscal year. Critics said education was slipping on Branstad’s priority list, and predicted the consequences would be negative for Iowa students.
Branstad also vetoed a measure that would have restored state services at the Mount Pleasant facility and would have sought a private agency to run a program at another state mental hospital at Clarinda. Both facilities have effectively closed after Branstad’s administrators spent several months transferring patients elsewhere and laying off the employees.
Branstad has said mental health services can be provided more effectively by private agencies or by the remaining two state hospitals in Independence and Cherokee. Critics contend the closures have left mentally ill Iowans without a fully developed replacement system.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, Colorado and the nation as a public service and for research.
Contributed By William Petroski-The Desmoines Register
