A poll conducted earlier this month by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) reveals Mainers’ thoughts on Gov. Janet Mills’ (D) job performance, as well as what they believe to be the most important issues impacting the state.
According to the poll, 54 percent of Mainers approve of the job that Gov. Mills has been doing, while 43 percent disapprove and 4 percent are either neutral or unsure.
Over the course of 2023, the percentage of Mainers who “strongly disapprove” of Mills has been steadily increasing, while the percentage of those who “strongly approve” has been steadily decreasing.
The share of Mainers who “strongly approve” of the job that Mills has done as governor dropped 8 points between April and June — from 40 percent to 32 percent — and then by another 4 points between June and August.
Meanwhile, the percentage of those who “strongly disapprove” has increased during this same time from 26 percent in April to 30 percent in August.
Mills’ net approval rating — which represents the difference between her approval and disapproval ratings — has also dropped significantly over the past few months.
Back in April of this year, Mills had a net approval of 24 percent, but this figure has now decreased to just 11 percent.
The results of the poll are further broken down by a number of demographic characteristics, offering insight into how various types of Mainers are currently thinking about how Mills is doing as governor.
Ninety-three percent of registered Democrats indicated approval of Mills’ job performance compared to only 11 percent of registered Republicans and just 3 percent of registered Green Party voters.
Among registered voters who are not enrolled in any particular party, 60 percent stated that they approved of how Mills has been handling her job as governor.
There were also notable differences in support for Mills between those of different political ideologies.
Ninety-four percent of self-reported socialists expressed support for Mills, alongside 91 percent of those who identified themselves as liberal. Seventy-eight percent of those who labeled themselves as progressive also indicated approval of Mills’ job as governor.
Seventy-three percent of those who described themselves as moderate approved of the governor’s job performance as well.
On the other side of the spectrum, 85 percent of self-described conservatives and 96 percent of libertarians expressed disapproval of Mills.
In terms of educational attainment, Mills enjoys the highest degree of support among those who have completed postgraduate work, as demonstrated by a 78 percent approval rating.
The next highest approval rating for Mills — 56 percent — comes from those who have completed some college or have gone to technical school.
Both those who have a high school education or less and those who are college graduates expressed support for Mills at roughly the same rate — 46 percent and 48 percent respectively.
Approval ratings for Mills also vary widely among different age groupings.
At a rate of 74 percent, Mainers between the ages of 18 and 34 are the most supportive of Mills’ performance as governor.
Those 65 and older are the governor’s second most supportive age group, reporting an approval rating of 58 percent.
Just 36 percent of Mainers between the ages of 35 and 49 approve of her job performance, alongside only 45 percent of those ages 50 to 64.
The poll also asked Mainers to describe Mills in one word.
The descriptors used most often by those who indicated approval of her job as governor were dedicated, caring, hardworking, competent, and determined.
Adjectives most commonly used by those who disapproved of Mills were incompetent, selfish, liberal, partisan, and useless.
This poll also revealed what the “most important problems facing Maine” are according those surveyed.
One-quarter of respondents identified housing as the most pressing issue in Maine, followed by cost of living (20 percent), homelessness (10 percent), and jobs/economy (10 percent).
All other issues that were brought up in the poll were only identified by 5 percent or less of respondents. Explore the word-cloud below to see what other problems Mainers identified in the poll, as well as the percent of respondents who flagged them as their top issue.
Data for this poll was collected by UNH via an online survey available from August 17, 2023 through August 21, 2023.
Click here to read the full report published by UNH.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="21786 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=21786">3 Comments
Thanks to Janet Mills, this state has become one of the most extreme in the country.
– radical sex change drugs and mutilation surgery on minors is now legal without parental consent or knowledge.
– schools now permit every type of anti-science gender-queer nonsense that can have traumatizing effects upon girls who are exposed to boy’s privates in locker rooms.
– girl’s sports now allow boys to compete in them.
– over 60% of every tax dollars is dumped into the teacher’s union.
– Janet Mills just repealed the property tax freeze for seniors. That program offered a prayer to middle-class seniors to stay in their homes now it’s gone thanks to Janet Mills.
She is such a horrible, horrible governor.
This is what happens when you have a tyrannical dictator instead of a Governor. Shes putting communism in place and Mainers are deaf dumb and blind to it.
I keep seeing…we asked Mainers or…we took a poll on how governor Mills is doing but nobody I know has been asked their opinion. Who are they asking? Mills is is ruining Maine and that’s the opinion of everyone I know.