approvals

Gov. Ted Strickland has a 60%-25% approval rating among Ohio voters, up from 55%-23% on June 4, according to a new poll released today by Quinnipiac University.  Republicans give the Democratic Governor a 47%-35% job approval, while he’s at 57%-27% among independents.

"With a little more than two years to go in his first term, Gov. Strickland would have to be considered a strong candidate for re-election," said Peter Brown, the Assistant Director of the Quinnipiac's polling institute.  "By a 47 - 31 percent margin, voters think Gov. Strickland has kept his 2006 campaign promises, 40 - 33 percent among independents."

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez has a 36%-26% approval rating among New Jersey voters in a Quinnipiac University poll released today.  These numbers represent a considerable improvement from the upside-down 30%-31% approvals had in the last Quinnipiac survey on February 20. 

Gov. Jon Corzine’s job approval rating continues to be upside down, 38%-52% -- about the same as he was four months ago – according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. Nearly six out of ten voters (57%) disapprove of his handling of the state budget.

We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see the results of the Quinnipiac poll that measures Gov. Corzine’s approval rating and the Senate race between Frank Lautenberg and Dick Zimmer.

But state Senator/Essex County Republican Chairman Kevin O’Toole predicts that the poll on the Senate race will be close.

“Lautenberg has not been loved by the electorate.  Look at his number.  He has a 54% or 55% (approval) on his best day,” said O’Toole.  “I think his best days are behind him.”

Good news for Gov. Ted Strickland as a potential Vice Presidential candidate on Barack Obama’s ticket. He has a 55%-23% approval rating, but voters overwhelmingly believe the state economy has deteriorated “under his stewardship and are very pessimistic about the future,” according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. Strickland was at 56%-19% in February.