Poll: Haley Job Approval Not Hurt Dramatically By Hack

The latest poll from Winthrop University shows that Gov. Nikki Haley’s popularity has not been affected by the Department of Revenue’s security breach that exposed millions of South Carolina taxpayer’s private information.

The poll, released Tuesday morning, showed that Haley’s job approval ratings among registered are “under water” – more people disapprove than approve, but not significantly so. The poll was conducted from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2, or more than a month after news of the security breach broke. Respondents were not asked specifically about Haley’s handling of the breach.

Among registered voters, 38.3 percent approved of the governor’s performance, while 41.3 percent did not. Those numbers aren’t dramatically different from the last Winthrop poll from April 2012, which showed her at 37.8 approval and 38.5 disapproval.

Since the April poll, Haley’s numbers have gone up slightly among her fellow Republicans, from 59.8 to 61.5.

In response to the release of the poll, Gov. Haley's spokesperson Rob Godfrey said, "“We’re in governing mode, not political mode. The most notable thing in the poll was that South Carolinians are starting to feel better about the local economy and the direction of our state. That’s good news, and it’s well-deserved, because we’re coming out of the recession very strongly. Our focus is on keeping that trend going, with more economic development, more jobs, and more government reform.”***

It’s important to note that the poll distinguished between all respondents, registered voters and those who voted last month in the Presidential Election.

You can see the complete poll HERE.

For the most part, the methodology did not change the general tenor of responses — except in one area, the job approval of President Barack Obama. Among all those polled the President has approval-disapproval rating of 48-40, which is higher than the governor’s. But among registered voters and those who voted in November those numbers are reversed.

The results suggest a couple of things for Haley. First, she is polling well among the GOP, which would seem to diminish, but certainly not rule out, the likelihood that she will receive a primary challenge in 2014. However, the figures also indicate that Haley could be in for a fight in the General Election. Haley has not confirmed she’ll seek re-election, though there seems little doubt that she will.

No other candidates have declared for 2014, either.

Compared to the last poll in April, South Carolinians have mixed views about the national economy and the economy here in the Palmetto State. One the one hand, 39.6 say the nation is on the right track (compared to 32.9 in April). But on the question of the national economy 31.3 percent say it’s “good” or “very good,” which is down three points from eight months ago. On the question of whether the country as a whole is getting better, that number dropped from 53.7 percent in April to 49.1 in the latest poll.

On the condition of the South Carolina economy the percentage saying it’s “good” or “very good” nudged from 47.8 to 49.4 percent. Nevertheless, there was a precipitous drop among people who think things are getting better in their home state. That number fell from 58.8 percent to 48.9 percent.

Congress is still very unpopular. 78 percent of registered voters disapprove of the job it’s doing.

Interestingly, the state legislature has an approval-disapproval rating of 40.4-32.8. Those numbers are essentially reversed from the last poll in April. In the past eight months, there have been issues regarding ethics and voter choice that would seem to have harmed the legislature’s approval, but Winthrop’s findings show otherwise.

Those self-identifying as in the Tea Party stayed at roughly five percent, and it’s approval rating among Republicans went from 51 percent in April to just over 59 percent in the latest poll. Among all voters, more people disapprove than approve of the Tea party by a margin of 5.5 percent (34.3-28.8).

The poll also shows that only 15 percent of voters thought Newt Gingrich — who won the South Carolina primary — would have fared better than Mitt Romney in the general election against President Obama.

***Quote from Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey added after publication.

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