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Rendell Plummets As State Budget Woes Increase
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| Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell, whose approval rating among state voters has dropped to 39%. (JOHN C. WHITEHEAD, The Patriot-News) |
Voters Reject Raising Taxes to Solve Crisis
BY JOE MURRAY, THE BULLETIN
With close to a third of Pennsylvania’s voters blaming him for the state’s budget crisis, Gov. Ed Rendell, D, continues to hemorrhage support as voters reject his call to temporary increase Pennsylvania’s state income tax.
Sinking to its lowest level since he was elected governor, just 39 percent of voters approve of Mr. Rendell’s job performance. The poor performance is clearly linked to the budget crisis and Mr. Rendell, not his Republican counterparts in the State Legislature, is the man the public is placing the blame.
Thirty percent of voters point their finger at Mr. Rendell as being the top obstacle in fixing the budget crisis. Seventeen percent blame Republican lawmakers, 11 percent blame Democrats and 28 percent blame them equally.
"The hassle in Harrisburg over the state budget certainly has caught the public's attention and voters are angry about it," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"Up to now we've called Gov. Ed Rendell 'Teflon Ed,' but the budget crisis clearly has put some scratches on him and the state economic crisis is sticking to the Governor. Only 28 percent of voters approve of his handling of the state budget and only 33 percent approve of his handling of the economy."
And to make matters worse for the governor, voters are rejecting his call to raise the state income tax from 3.07 percent to 3.57 to ease the budget burden.
Sixty-three percent of voters reject Mr. Rendell’s tax hike with only a third supporting the plan. Democrats are split evenly over the tax hike, but Republicans and Independents clearly disfavor the three year increase. Eighty-one percent of Republicans and 58 percent of Independents reject the proposal.
"Voters clearly don't want their taxes raised to solve the budget mess," Dr. Brown said. "Given a choice between raising taxes to maintain the level of services, or cutting spending and leaving taxes the same, 55 percent favor spending cuts and 35 percent say raise taxes."
Mr. Rendell is term limited and cannot run for a third term, but the poor showing demonstrates that being an incumbent governor during an economic recession can be trying, especially for Democrats.
Early this month a number of polls found Democratic governors sinking in the polls. The University of New Hampshire Granite State poll found the state’s three-term Democratic governor, John Lynch, dropping to his lowest levels since his first term in office.
First-term Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, D, looks vulnerable as a July 3 Quinnipiac poll showed a slim 46-42 percent approval rating. That rating is down from a 57-29 percent rating in May.
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, New York Gov. David Patterson, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle are also among the Democrats whose chances of re-election are looking increasingly gloomy.
Hoping to tap into the Democratic dissatisfaction, Republicans are hoping to add Pennsylvania to their win column in the state’s 2010 gubernatorial race.
State Attorney General Tom Corbett leads the GOP pack with support from 38 percent of the voters. U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach is a distant second with 15 percent and U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan takes 9 percent.
For the Democrats, the leading candidates – Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, State Auditor Jack Wagner and businessman Tom Knox – are essentially tied.
"Corbett begins the race ahead and with a sizeable edge," said Dr. Brown, adding, “At this point there is no leader in the Democratic race for Governor.”
Joe Murray can be reached at jmurray@thebulletin.us
Sinking to its lowest level since he was elected governor, just 39 percent of voters approve of Mr. Rendell’s job performance. The poor performance is clearly linked to the budget crisis and Mr. Rendell, not his Republican counterparts in the State Legislature, is the man the public is placing the blame.
Thirty percent of voters point their finger at Mr. Rendell as being the top obstacle in fixing the budget crisis. Seventeen percent blame Republican lawmakers, 11 percent blame Democrats and 28 percent blame them equally.
"The hassle in Harrisburg over the state budget certainly has caught the public's attention and voters are angry about it," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"Up to now we've called Gov. Ed Rendell 'Teflon Ed,' but the budget crisis clearly has put some scratches on him and the state economic crisis is sticking to the Governor. Only 28 percent of voters approve of his handling of the state budget and only 33 percent approve of his handling of the economy."
And to make matters worse for the governor, voters are rejecting his call to raise the state income tax from 3.07 percent to 3.57 to ease the budget burden.
Sixty-three percent of voters reject Mr. Rendell’s tax hike with only a third supporting the plan. Democrats are split evenly over the tax hike, but Republicans and Independents clearly disfavor the three year increase. Eighty-one percent of Republicans and 58 percent of Independents reject the proposal.
"Voters clearly don't want their taxes raised to solve the budget mess," Dr. Brown said. "Given a choice between raising taxes to maintain the level of services, or cutting spending and leaving taxes the same, 55 percent favor spending cuts and 35 percent say raise taxes."
Mr. Rendell is term limited and cannot run for a third term, but the poor showing demonstrates that being an incumbent governor during an economic recession can be trying, especially for Democrats.
Early this month a number of polls found Democratic governors sinking in the polls. The University of New Hampshire Granite State poll found the state’s three-term Democratic governor, John Lynch, dropping to his lowest levels since his first term in office.
First-term Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, D, looks vulnerable as a July 3 Quinnipiac poll showed a slim 46-42 percent approval rating. That rating is down from a 57-29 percent rating in May.
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, New York Gov. David Patterson, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle are also among the Democrats whose chances of re-election are looking increasingly gloomy.
Hoping to tap into the Democratic dissatisfaction, Republicans are hoping to add Pennsylvania to their win column in the state’s 2010 gubernatorial race.
State Attorney General Tom Corbett leads the GOP pack with support from 38 percent of the voters. U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach is a distant second with 15 percent and U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan takes 9 percent.
For the Democrats, the leading candidates – Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, State Auditor Jack Wagner and businessman Tom Knox – are essentially tied.
"Corbett begins the race ahead and with a sizeable edge," said Dr. Brown, adding, “At this point there is no leader in the Democratic race for Governor.”
Joe Murray can be reached at jmurray@thebulletin.us
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