Support for slots among Maryland voters is up, but it’s down for Gov. Martin O?Malley, according to a new statewide poll. The poll also found overwhelming backing for a referendum on slot machine gambling.
The poll taken last week by Gonzales Research and Marketing Strategies also found widespread support for the income tax hikes O?Malley has proposed for corporations and the wealthy and for the special session he has called, and opposition to the increase in the sales tax he?s seeking.
In the telephone survey, O?Malley?s job approval rating is at 46 percent, slipping 6 points since March. His disapproval rating was up 10 points to 31 percent. The poll said 40 percent of the respondents think things are moving in the wrong direction, up 15 points since January.
“That?s a huge shift and not in the right direction,” pollster Patrick Gonzales said. (Click here to download the complete polling data)
Almost the entire change in the governor?s approval rating was caused by a sharp drop in support among Republican voters, two-thirds of whom now disapprove of him, almost double the number in March. Among Democrats, 61 percent approve of the job he?s doing.
Pollster Patrick Gonzales said, “I thought there was a possibility that his negatives would be higher, and his approval would lower,” given the taxes he?s proposing.
Among independents, who made up 10 percent of the respondents, almost half (49 percent) approve of the job O?Malley is doing, but half (52 percent) also say the state is heading in the wrong direction.
The telephone survey of 893 regular voters has a margin of error of 3.5 percent overall, higher margins among subgroups.
O?Malley has majority support among African Americans, women, and residents of Baltimore City and the Washington suburbs. A majority of voters on the Eastern Shore disapprove of the job he?s doing.
O?Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said: “Overall, the poll shows overwhelming supportfor the governor?s plan to move ahead and address the structural deficit,” including support for slots, “tax reform” and “closing corporate loopholes.”
Abbruzzese said the drop in O?Malley?s approval is no surprise, “but leaders lead when they have to make difficult decision,” noting how Virginia Gov. Mark Warner had suffered lower ratings when he was pushing a tax program through.
Gonzales said he was surprised to find the highest support for slot machine gambling ? 59 percent ? in five years of polling on the subject. He thought the combination of tax hike proposals with slots would hurt support for gambling.
Gonzales, who?s been polling in Maryland for decades, said he was particularly surprised “at the shear overwhelming number of people that want slots to go to referendum.”
More than four out of five Marylanders ? 84 percent — back a referendum on the gaming issue.
Other poll results show:
* 60 percent say calling a special session is “the right approach.”
* Raise sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent: 63 percent oppose; 35 percent favor.
* Increase income tax for individuals earning over $150,000, families over $200,000: 58 percent favor; 41 percent oppose, including two-thirds of Republicans.
* Raise corporate income tax from 7 to 8 percent: 59 percent favor; 38 percent oppose.
