Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA.) received high job approval ratings in a Quinnipiac University poll of Virginia voters released last week.
The governor’s approval rating was 57 percent, a slight drop off from the 62 percent job approval rating he received in October. However, it shows the Virginians have consitently approved more than disapproved of their governor, in June he received a 57 percent job approval rating.
Mr. McDonnell received a 53 percent approval rating for his handling of the state budget, in the last fiscal year, the Commonwealth of Virginia experienced a budget surplus according to Mr. McDonnell’s website.
Mr. Warner received the highest rating of all Virginia politicians polled, with 62 percent of voters approving the way he is handling job and 23 percent disapproving.
“Virginia retains its unusual status as a state where all the statewide elected officials, and the state legislature, are popular with voters,”Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling institute, said in a press release last week.
“Of the seven states where Quinnipiac University conducts surveys, Virginia seems to have the greatest contentment with its politicians, both Republican and Democratic,” Mr. Brown added.
The independent Quinnipiac polling team consistently polls voters in Connecticut, New York, New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida regarding their elected officials. This year the state of Virginia was added, as it is increasingly considered a swing state regarding the upcoming 2012 election.
In 2008 Virginia was a Democratic state, as the majority of voters selected Barack Obama for president.
A recent Public Polling Policy of Virginia voters found that the president holds a slight lead over Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in the Old Dominion state.
The Quinnipiac poll also asked Virginia voters their opinion on Uranium mining in Virginia. According to The Washington Post, the state of Virginia currently has 119 million pounds of uranium — worth as much as $10 billion.
Virginia voters were split on the issue of uranium mining, with 43 percent in favor of it because of the economic benefits, while 41 percent are opposed because of environmental concerns.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted between December 13th and 19th among 1,135 registered Virginia voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
