Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s job approval rating has plummeted over the past several months, a new survey shows, as even fellow Democrats have lost faith in his administration.

Just 30 percent of voters surveyed by Public Policy Polling approved of Abercrombie’s job performance, down from 48 percent in March. The low rating, according to the Raleigh, N.C., polling firm, gives the Hawaii Democrat the dubious distinction of being the most unpopular governor in the nation.

Potentially more distressing for Abercrombie’s allies, however, is his poor standing among Democrats. The new poll found that 43 percent of Democrats approve of the governor’s job performance, down from 66 percent in March.

A Hawaii Poll taken for the Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now in May had Abercrombie’s job approval rating at 50 percent.

Unless Abercrombie rebounds, his low rating could negatively influence Democratic campaigns next year, especially the U.S. Senate race.

Former Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican candidate for Senate, left office last year with low job approval ratings linked mostly to state budget cuts and teacher furloughs during the recession. A Public Policy Polling survey released earlier this week showed Lingle competitive against both U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono and former Congressman Ed Case, the Democratic contenders for Senate.

Democrats have said they would mine Lingle’s record as governor for campaign issues, but portraying Lingle as an ineffective chief executive may be more difficult if voters do not see the new Democratic administration as an upgrade.

"I think Abercrombie’s issues might be part of the reason for Linda Lingle’s image resurgence over the last six months," wrote Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-aligned firm. "Folks who might have burned out on her by the end of her time in office may now be looking at her in comparison to their feelings about Abercrombie and coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t so bad."

The automated telephone poll was taken among 568 voters from Oct. 13 to Sunday. The margin of error was 4.1 percentage points.

"Polls are not our focus," Donalyn Dela Cruz, an Abercrombie spokeswoman, said in an email. "The governor’s focus is on looking at all avenues to boost our economy. We’re making progress in education and energy and we will continue to build upon that momentum."

The poll was taken a week after four young Abercrombie advisers who were with him since his campaign resigned in a staff shake-up, the latest in a series of negative public relations and public policy stories out of the fifth floor at the state Capitol.

Democrats close to the Abercrombie administration had sought to minimize the setbacks as unfortunate misfires, insisting that the administration’s core approach was sound. Sources now say privately that there is broad recognition that better political and communications strategies are needed.

State Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Hawaii Kai), who has known Abercrombie since they were students at the University of Hawaii, said he thinks the governor’s slide has happened because liberal and labor interests have not gotten what they expected from the new administration.

"When a governor sits in that seat — whether it’s a he or a she, whether they’re liberal or conservative — they find out the tough economic facts," he said. "And the facts of the matter are, we are struggling in this community, and he has to make some tough decisions.

"And it’s just like that ‘Occupy’ group that’s out there: ‘Give me! Give me! Give me!’ You can’t ‘give me’ if the money is not there."

But Slom said he believes Abercrombie is also viewed negatively because of what he describes as a lack of transparency. The governor, unlike his predecessors, has declined to disclose the names of potential judicial nominees submitted by the Judicial Selection Commission. The administration was slow to acknowledge that the governor had asked for courtesy resignations from Lingle appointees to key boards and commissions. The administration also waited two months to publicly disclose that the governor declared a civil-defense emergency and suspended state environmental and land use regulations to help contain unexploded ordnance from World War II-era military training.

"I think the knock against him, that comes generally, is from the lack of transparency," Slom said, calling Abercrombie the least transparent governor since statehood.

Dante Carpenter, chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, believes the governor’s low job approval rating is tied to the economy.

"We’ve got a serious economic situation with no immediate relief in sight," he said. "So it seems that almost anything he does can be held against him."

Carpenter, who served with Abercrombie in the state Senate and has been an ally for decades, offered the governor the same advice he said his grandmother used to give him: "Be patient."

Public Policy Polling also found that President Barack Obama still has solid job approval ratings in Hawaii but that his level of support has slipped since March.

The survey put the Hawaii-born president’s job approval rating at 56 percent, down from 64 percent in March. The firm said the president remains more popular in Hawaii than in any other state it has polled this year.

Hawaii News Now video: Abercrombie called ‘most unpopular governor in America’