Gov. Malloy's Approval Rating Continues to Tank

HARTFORD, CT - On the bright side, I suppose one could say that Gov. Dannel Malloy's historically bad approval rating has no where to go but up.

To put it in sports terms, that would require an epic comeback.

A new Quinnipiac University Poll states that Connecticut residents royally disapprove of the job performance by the two-term governor, to the tune of 68 percent against and only 24 percent in favor. A total of 8 percent had no opinion.

Just before he was carted off to jail on corruption charges, former Gov. John Rowland notched a 69 to 24 percent approval rating thrashing in 2004.

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At least Malloy can say he's not facing any felonies, but some voters probably still would like to lock him up, particularly for what's happened to the economy and state spending during his six-year watch.

"Voters feel Connecticut's economy is going down the drain and they are sending Gov. Dannel Malloy's approval ratings right down the same drain," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD., in a statement. "Even Democrats disapprove of the way he is doing his job. [He] has lost ground on almost every measure.

"When things get tough, voters usually blame the person in charge, fairly or unfairly."

The new Quinnipiac numbers cannot be a surprise for the governor, because his approval rating has been tanking since October when 58 percent disapproved of his performance and 32 percent were in favor.

Last month, Morning Consult concluded that Malloy was more disliked by his constituents than Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was by his, despite Snyder having to deal with the blowback from the Flint water crisis.

Malloy is getting spanked across the board, with voters saying he has performed dismally on the economy and jobs (76 percent disapprove of the way he's handling them); the state budget (77 percent disapprove); taxes (76 disapprove); leadership qualities (57 percent disapprove); honesty and trustworthiness (52 percent disapprove); and whether he cares about voter needs and problems (61 percent disapprove).

The poll was conducted using liver interviewers who called land lines and cell phones. From June 1 - 5, the university surveyed 1,330 Connecticut voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points.

Click here to view the poll.

What do you think about Gov. Malloy? Did the poll get it right? Tell us in the comments below.