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Indiana Gov. Pence's Poll Ratings Plummet After Gay Rights Spat
Thursday, April 16, 2015 08:13 PM
By: Cathy Burke
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's favorability ratings among voters took a nose dive in the wake of the national controversy over the state's "religious freedom" law that raised the specter of anti-gay discrimination, the Indianapolis Star reports.
According to a poll taken for Howey Politics Indiana (HPI), 45 percent of respondents approve of the Republican governor's job performance, but only 35 percent have a positive opinion of him.
"People aren't giving him the benefit of the doubt," said pollster Christine Matthews, who conducted the survey.
Howey Politics editor Brian Howey described the hit to Pence's public profile as "significant, if not historic," the National Journal reports.
"In the 20 years that HPI has been publishing ... an Indiana governor has never experienced this kind of survey decline in this short time frame."
The poll's margin of error was 4 percentage points.
Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by Pence late last month, triggered a firestorm of criticism from across the nation over concerns it could allow businesses to deny services to same-sex couples.
Pence and the GOP-controlled Legislature passed a revision specifying the law can't be used to discriminate against gays, and earlier this week he declared, "the difficult time that just passed through two weeks ago is behind us."
Yet the new poll shows his approval rating is double digits below other recent surveys. For example, a January survey from Public Opinion Strategies conducted for Americans for Prosperity put Pence's approval at 66 percent, and a survey from February for the Indiana Association of Realtors had Pence at 62 percent.
