A recent poll commissioned by Indy Politics finds that Governor Eric Holcomb enjoys a high job approval rating as he prepares to leave office, but a plurality of voters are unhappy with the state’s direction.
A survey of 600 likely voters taken between September 23rd and 25th finds that Governor Eric Holcomb’s job approval sits at 55% Approve/35% Disapprove (+21%). The margin of error was +/- 4%.
“A majority of voters like the job Holcomb is doing. 62% of Independents approve of his job performance and even among Democrats, over a third (36%) say they like the job he’s doing. Barring something major happening in the next few months, he’ll be leaving office on a high note,” says pollster Andrew Weissert.
While the governor gets high marks, voters aren’t as enthused about the direction of the state overall. A plurality (42%) say its off on the wrong track, while 37% say it’s headed in the right direction.
Among Independents, 41% are happy with the way things are going, while 31% say it’s off on the wrong track. Even among Republicans, a quarter (25%) are unhappy with the direction of the state, while just 53% say it’s going in the right direction.
“Given Holcomb’s high marks, this looks to be more a reflection of the larger environment and perhaps voters looking to a future without Holcomb,” says Weissert. “It’s tough to say, but given Braun’s own underperformance – which might not be his own fault – voters might not be as enthused about what’s to come.”
The survey also asked voters about whether they’d vote for each office individually or straight ticket. 51% said they plan to vote straight ticket, with 29% planning to vote straight ticket Republican and 21% planning to vote straight ticket Democrat. 46% say they’ll vote for each office individually.
Among self-identifying Republicans, 56% say they’ll vote straight ticket, while 59% of Democrats plan to vote straight ticket. Of those who say they’re Independent, 12% plan to vote straight ticket Democrat and 11% will vote straight ticket Republican.
“If you look at the voting preferences for straight ticket voters across the four statewide races, straight ticket Republican voters in the governor’s race are the only one that stands out. Every other race shows uniformity with the party’s candidate and the party they plan to vote straight ticket for. 8% of straight ticket Republicans say they’d vote for Rainwater or are undecided. Will those voters actually choose Rainwater on Election Day, or will they ultimately just check the box for Republicans and submit their ballots? What those voters ultimately do is probably the difference between Braun being level with Banks and Rokita’s ballot share, or slightly underperforming his counterparts,” says Weissert.
Lastly, voters were asked how confident they were that Indiana’s elections would be accurately cast and counted. 82% say they’re confident in the integrity of Indiana’s elections, with just 15% saying they’re not confident. Specifically, 49% say they’re very confident and only 5% say they’re not confident at all.
A lack of confidence is largely a Republican issue, with 22% of Republicans not confident about the fall’s election integrity. 93% of Democrats and 84% of Independents say they’re confident that the votes will be accurately cast and counted.
