Tony Cook

IndyStar

Pence's approval rating remains below 50 percent

Race for governor too close to call

Reputation of General Assembly also suffering

Gov. Mike Pence’s approval ratings continue to sag six months after a national furor over Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, according to a new poll.

The WISH-TV/Ball State Hoosier Survey found that 47 percent of Hoosier residents approved of Pence’s performance — a big drop compared to Pence’s approval rating of 62 percent in the same poll last year.

The results suggest Pence's reputation continues to suffer following his decision to sign Indiana's controversial religious objection law in March. His 47 percent approval rating is virtually unchanged since two polls conducted by Republican consultant Christine Matthews in April and June.

But Pence did make up some ground in a 2016 rematch with Gregg. The new poll shows Pence leading Democrat challenger John Gregg 42 percent to 37 percent in a head-to-head match-up, though the results are within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 percent. Matthews’ most recent poll had Gregg leading Pence 41 percent to 40 percent. That result was also within the margin of error.

Pence beat Gregg, a former Indiana House speaker, by three percentage points in the 2012 election.

The WISH-TV/Ball State poll surveyed 600 Hoosiers and was conducted by Princeton Survey Research.

It showed that the Republican-controlled Indiana General Assembly’s reputation has also suffered since last year. About 45 percent of those surveyed gave their approval to lawmakers, down from 57 percent last year.

Democrats said the poll results show Hoosiers are ready for a change.

“Mike Pence can’t seem to shake off his RFRA hangover,” said Drew Anderson, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “It looks like Hoosiers are still upset with Pence after he chose to put his ideology ahead of the well-being of Indiana.”

Pence’s supporters, however, said the poll shows the governor’s resilience.

“The main take away from the poll is head to head Mike Pence beats John Gregg,” said Robert Vane, spokesman for the Indiana Republican Party. “Mike Pence’s approval rating is near 50 percent despite Democrats and their union allies spending vast sums of money on negative ads that even local media has deemed stretching the truth.”

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Call Star reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony.