Governor Glenn Youngkin has net positive job approval in two polls released Friday. A Roanoke College poll has the governor at 53 percent approval and 35 percent disapproval while a Public Policy Polling survey has him at 43 percent approval, 34 percent disapproval.
The Roanoke results are up from 50 percent approval in February, although the PPP results are lower than March results, according to press releases.
“More Democrats (41 percent) approve of Youngkin’s performance now than they did three months ago (30 percent), while approval in Youngkin’s own party is down (84 percent approval in February versus 75% approval now),” a press release explained.
In both polls, President Joe Biden’s approval is low: PPP found 50 percent disapproval and 36 percent approval, and Roanoke found 57 percent disapproval and 37 percent approval.
In the PPP poll, 37 percent said they think Virginia is headed in the right direction, and in the Roanoke poll, 50 percent said they thought things in the Commonwealth are going in the right direction. Only 21 percent in the Roanoke poll said things are going in the right direction nationally, while only 15 percent in the PPP poll think things are going in the right direction in the U.S.
“No surprise, but very few people are happy with government these days,” said Dr. David Taylor, director of The Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College.
He said, “Political anxiety has remained low for Republicans and increased for both Democrats and Independents as the federal government struggles to get meaningful things accomplished. Approval of President Biden is down and the percentage of Virginians that feel the country is on the wrong track is at an almost all-time high. Almost two-thirds of the residents of the Commonwealth feel that their ‘side’ is losing more often than it is winning, and almost three-quarters of us are dissatisfied or angry at the federal government.”
From May 15 to May 26, Roanoke College performed the poll among 648 Virginia residents with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.7 percent. The PPP poll is more recent: May 31 through June 1, surveying 696 Virginia voters, with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.7 percent. Former House minority leader Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn’s (D-Fairfax) Energized for Change PAC paid for the PPP Poll, according to a press release.
The PPP poll included a question about Virginia’s congressional races, where Republicans expect to flip at least VA-02 and possibly VA-07 and VA-10 amid a favorable national political climate.
“Congressional Democratic candidates are in a statistical dead heat (46 percent) with Republicans (45 percent) despite the challenging national environment and the party’s statewide losses in the state last year,” Filler-Corn’s press release states.
The release also highlighted Youngkin’s 43 percent job approval, “lower than polls in March 2022 and approximately eight percent lower than his vote share in the November 2021 election.”
In the release analyzing Roanoke College’s results, Taylor said, “Here in Virginia, though, just about five months into his term as governor, Glenn Youngkin’s approval ratings have improved, most notably among Democrats, and many more Virginians feel that the Commonwealth is going in the right direction compared to the country.”
– – –
Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Glenn Youngkin” by Glenn Youngkin. Background Photo “Virginia Capitol” by Doug Kerr. CC BY-SA 2.0.
