Registered voters give Gov. David Ige a little more love five months before he leaves office.
Ige received a 41% approval rating in January compared with 44% this month, according to the results of the latest Honolulu Star-Advertiser Hawaii Poll.
He received an identical 50% disapproval rating in both January and July. But the number of voters who were “not sure” about Ige fell from 9% in January to 6% in July, giving him a bump in his approval rating.
The Hawaii Poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy of Washington, D.C., from July 12 to 17. A total of 800 registered Hawaii voters were interviewed statewide by landline telephone and cell phones. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter registration by county. The margin for error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Ige’s 44% approval rating in Hawaii still ranks him third-worst in the nation among Democratic governors.
Only Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (40%) and Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (38%) rank lower than Ige, according to a roundup of voter surveys compiled by Morning Consult.
Asked about her satisfaction with Ige, Charlotte Simmons — an 80-year-old retired television producer and director from Makiki who was a poll participant — said, “lukewarm is a good word. It seems like he’s not quick to make decisions. You want somebody who’s able to make a decision quickly.”
Political analyst Neal Milner said, “In some ways Ige’s numbers have always been a mystery, because to some extent he’s always been a mystery. People remember certain things but he hasn’t gotten himself into a whole lot of trouble. I think he’s never sufficiently connected with the electorate. His disapproval ratings never got too big. So I think there’s something about connection there.”
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At the same time, 48% of Hawaii voters approve of President Joe Biden’s job performance, giving Biden some welcomed island aloha compared with his overall 38% average job approval rating.
“At 48%, it’s not great for Hawaii but it’s a whole lot better than the rest of the nation at 38%,” said Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii’s Public Policy Center. “We’re one of six states where’s he’s not underwater.”
In the Hawaii Poll, 75% of Democrats approve of Biden’s job performance, led by 58% of Japanese voters.
“Japanese voters tend to be more loyal Democratic voters,” Moore said.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi seems to have received a huge boost in his job approval ratings among Honolulu voters, but the methodology between the January and July Hawaii Polls was different.
In a matchup of nine island politicians by name recognition, voters in January who knew Blangiardi’s name gave him only a 29% favorable rating. Blangiardi’s ranking was the second lowest, only better than Ige’s 26% rating among people who recognized Ige’s name in January.
In the July Hawaii Poll, only 525 Honolulu voters were simply asked whether they approve or disapprove of Blangiardi’s job performance as mayor. Some 52% approved, 28% disapproved and 20% were not sure. The question has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4% percentage points.
Blangiardi told the Star- Advertiser in an interview that he and his administration have experienced “an extraordinary 18 months in office,” and he considered the results of the Hawaii Poll “as a very positive acknowledgement of the great work of our team. We feel like we’re beginning to get the traction of what we want to do for the City and County of Honolulu.”
One of the focuses of his administration, Blangiardi said, is “to regain trust in city government and infuse hope from young kids to our oldest kupuna.”
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