Inslee Approval Rating Mostly Steady, New Poll Finds

WASHINGTON — As Gov. Jay Inslee nears the halfway point in his third term in office, a recent poll found little change in voters' feelings about his job performance in recent months, but the numbers remain lower than they were last fall. For the latest KING 5/SurveyUSA poll, researchers heard from 719 registered voters who filled out a brief online survey in mid-October.

The results were largely unchanged from the same poll in July, with 48 percent of voters polled saying they disapproved of Inslee's performance, compared to 46 percent who said they approved, for a new approval rating of -2. The other 6 percent of those surveyed said they were unsure. One year ago, a similar poll found that 48 percent of voters approved of Inslee, compared to 42 percent who disapproved.

Among Democrats polled this month, a combined 81 percent said they somewhat or strongly approved of the governor, compared to 30 percent of independents and 13 percent of Republicans.

As KING 5 reports, the percentage of democrats expressing strong support for Inslee slipped from 50 percent in July to 44 percent this month. Over the same period, Republicans expressing strong disapproval grew from 63 percent to 75 percent.

This month's poll also asked voters to weigh in on the governor's proposal to offer a $1,000 incentive for state employees to get their bivalent COVID-19 booster shots, which appeared unpopular with voters in both parties.

The survey found just 43 percent of Democrats and 16 percent of Republicans supported a financial incentive for the booster. Another 37 percent of Democrats preferred a booster requirement with no incentive, and 62 percent of Republicans said they were against both incentives and a mandate.

According to The Seattle Times, the booster incentive was included as part of the agreement on a new labor contract with the largest state employee union, which secured a 7 percent raise over two years and a retention bonus next year.

Data from the state Department of Health show just under 14 percent of eligible Washingtonians have received their omicron-specific booster shot.

>> Check out detailed breakdowns from the SurveyUSA poll here.