A new Public Policy Polling survey suggests Gov. Mike Braun is facing steep job-approval headwinds in Dubois County — the same county where Braun is from, and where Jasper (his hometown) sits.
The poll of 636 registered Dubois County voters, conducted Dec. 16–17, 2025, finds Braun at 16% approve / 62% disapprove / 23% not sure. That’s an unusually lopsided result for a sitting governor in his home-county orbit. (As always, this is a countywide survey, not a city-of-Jasper-only sample.)
The gender split is also striking. Among women, Braun’s approval is 10% approve / 66% disapprove / 24% not sure. Among men, he is at 23% approve / 56% disapprove / 21% not sure. In other words, Braun is underwater with both men and women in the poll, but the deficit is deeper among women.
President Donald Trump’s job approval numbers in the same Dubois County sample are notably stronger. Overall, Trump posts 54% approve / 32% disapprove / 14% not sure.
Again, the gender divide is clear. Among women, Trump is at 48% approve / 34% disapprove / 19% not sure. Among men, Trump is at 62% approve / 29% disapprove / 9% not sure.
The contrast matters politically because Dubois County is a heavily Republican part of the state — the kind of place where statewide GOP officials typically expect to be on firmer footing. Trump’s positive numbers and Braun’s deeply negative numbers, appearing side by side in the same local poll, underline that this is not just a generic “anti-incumbent mood” story. At least in this snapshot, Dubois County voters are making a clear distinction between the president and the governor.
The poll’s broader context is a set of questions about the proposed Mid-States Corridor, which has long been debated in southern Indiana. That section found overwhelming opposition in Dubois County and asked voters about project cost, time-savings claims, and whether local governments might have to assume maintenance responsibilities for U.S. 231. But the job-approval numbers for Trump and Braun stand out because they give a direct read on how voters are feeling about the state’s most prominent Republican officeholder — in the county that should be among the friendliest terrain on the map.
This also fits with a broader theme Indy Politics has seen in public polling and issue surveys throughout 2025: voters often separate their opinions by officeholder, issue, and level of government, and they are increasingly willing to register dissatisfaction even with leaders from their own party. The Dubois County results suggest Braun’s challenge is not simply winning over swing counties — it may include shoring up support closer to home.
