On December 18th SurveyUSA released a 600 sample poll of adults taken in Missouri from December 11th through the 13th which shows an improvement in the approval numbers for Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D) when compared to November 2009 (there was no October release from SurveyUSA). The margin of error is 4.1%.
The poll was sponsored by KCTV in Kansas City.
Do you approve or disapprove of the job Jay Nixon is doing as Governor?
All
49% – approve
42% – disapprove
9% – not sureDemocrats [36% of sample]
63% – approve
30% – disapprove
8% – not surerepublicans [29% of sample]
43% – approve
51% – disapprove
12% – not sureIndependents [28% of sample]
39% – approve
50% – disapprove
11% – not sure
There has been continued erosion among “Independents”, and improvement (!) among republicans and Democrats. There is significant disapproval (30%) among Democrats.
Regionally there is net positive approval for Jay Nixon in St. Louis, Southeast and Southwest (!) Missouri. There is net disapproval in the Northern region (3%) of the state and Kansas City (4%).
There is no gender gap:
Do you approve or disapprove of the job Jay Nixon is doing as Governor?
Gender
Male [48% of sample]
51% – approve
42% – disapprove
7% – not sureFemale [52% of sample]
48% – approve
42% – disapprove
10% – not sure
A few weeks ago I wrote:
…Given the generally dismal political polling fortunes of almost everyone else in Missouri and the country, these numbers [don’t] exactly portend disaster for Governor Nixon. We’ll keep an eye on future releases to see if this particular poll is an outlier or a trend…
That November poll may have been an outlier and it definitely wasn’t an indication of a trend.