A new Quinnipiac University poll found voters overwhelmingly approved of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s handling of Tropical Storm Irene, but his overall approval rating is still in negative territory.
The poll found 79 percent of voters approved of Malloy’s response to Irene, but disapprove of his handling of the state budget and public employee unions.
“Tropical Storm Irene put no wind in Gov. Dannel Malloy’s sails,” Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said.
Overall, 41 percent of voters approve of how Malloy is handling his job and 48 percent disapprove.
The 41 percent of voters who approve of Malloy has increased from 38 percent in June, but the number of voters who disapprove has also increased from 44 percent in June to 48 percent. But that doesn’t mean they don’t like Malloy as a person. The poll found 45 percent like Malloy, while 23 percent don’t like him as a person. Those numbers have both increased since June.
His handling of the state budget received even lower marks with 55 percent of voters disapproving of his handling of the budget and 49 percent disapproving of his handling of public employee unions.
Despite the numbers, the Malloy administration remains consistent in its response to these types of polls and how much stock they put in them.
“We have tried to be consistent in not saying much about polls because…what’s there to say?” Roy Occhiogrosso, Malloy’s senior communications adviser, said in a statement. “Polls come and go, numbers go up and down. The Governor always does what he thinks is best for the state and the right thing to do.”
The state legislature does even worse than Malloy with 57 percent of voters disapproving of how its handling its job. In June 33 percent approved and 50 percent disapproved of how the legislature was handling its job.
When it comes to Tropical Storm Irene, voters approved 61 to 32 percent of the state utilities’ handling of the aftermath despite more than 830,000 customers, including some who waited a week of longer for power to be restored.
Utilities restored power in a “reasonable” amount of time, 67 percent of voters say, while 28 percent say “it was too slow and there’s no excuse.”
Even those without power six days or more say 51 – 45 percent that restoration was reasonable.
“Connecticut voters are very understanding of their utility companies,” Schwartz said. “Two-thirds think the length of time it took to restore power was reasonable given the extent of the damage. That understanding, however, dropped with each day without power.”
The poll surveyed 1,230 registered voters from Sept. 8-13 and has a 2.8 percent margin of error.
