Gov. John Hickenlooper’s job approval ratings plunged in a new poll that shows Republican challenger Bob Beauprez beating the Democratic incumbent by 1 percentage point.

Coloradans give Hickenlooper a split rating, with 48 percent approving and 46 percent disapproving of the way he is handling his job as governor, according to a poll released early Wednesday by Quinnipiac University. In its April poll, Hickenlooper’s job approval rating was 52 percent favorable to 39 percent unfavorable.

The April Quinnipiac poll showed Hickenlooper beating the former two-term congressman 48 percent to 39 percent. The latest poll shows Beauprez at 44 percent and Hickenlooper at 43 percent, which means the race for Colorado governor is tied.

A poll released Tuesday by NBC News/Marist found Hickenlooper beating Beauprez 49 percent to 43 percent.

In Wednesday’s Quinnipiac poll, 64 percent of voters say the state’s economy is “excellent” or “good,” and 49 percent said the economy is getting better. Only 12 percent said it is getting worse.

“Coloradans seem generally optimistic about the future and confidant in the state’s economy, but that is certainly not enough to open the way for a smooth ride to reelection for Gov. John Hickenlooper,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll.

“Is former U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez enjoying a bounce after his Republican primary win or is he a real challenge to the Democratic incumbent?”

Beauprez beat three GOP rivals on June 24 after winning 30 percent of the vote.

Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,147 registered voters, conducting live interviews on land lines and cell phones, from Friday through Monday. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

When asked the most important issue in deciding their vote for governor, with any answer allowed, 20 percent of Colorado voters said the economy/jobs, 9 percent listed gun issues and 6 percent said education or education funding.

In April, only 4 percent of the voters listed gun issues, but the topic resurfaced last month after Hickenlooper was hammered for comments he made to Colorado’s sheriffs about gun-control measures passed in the 2013 session. Hickenlooper has said he didn’t know he was being taped.

In a breakdown in the governor’s race, Hickenlooper leads among women, Beauprez among men and they are virtually tied among crucial independent voters.

Asked their opinion of Beauprez, 31 percent had a favorable opinion, 25 percent had an unfavorable opinion and 43 percent said they hadn’t heard enough. Beauprez also ran for governor in 2006, losing to Democrat Bill Ritter by 17 percentage points.

Almost 70 percent of Coloradans said they were unaware of a speech Beauprez gave in 2010, which recently was resurrected. Beauprez at the time said ” 47 percent of all Americans pay no federal income tax.”

“I submit to you that there is a political strategy to get slightly over half and have a permanent ruling majority by keeping over half of the population dependent on the largesse of government that somebody else is paying for,” Beauprez said in the speech.

Among those who had heard about the remarks, 52 percent agreed and 40 percent disagreed, Quinnipiac found.

Lack of effort is the main reason a person is poor, 44 percent of voters said, while 41 percent cited circumstances beyond a person’s control. Poor people have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything in return, 52 percent of voters said, while 37 percent say poor people have it hard because government benefits don’t go far enough to help them live decently, Quinnipiac found.

Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels