Guv's approval stays below 50 percent

Posted 3/30/2009 12:48:00 AM

The newest SurveyUSA poll has Gov. Bill Richardson’s approval rating at 42 percent.

The survey of 600 New Mexicans, released Saturday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

That matches a New Mexico State University poll released earlier this month that had Richardson’s approval rating at 43 percent and the February SurveyUSA poll that had his approval at 41 percent.

In the new poll, 54 percent said they disapprove of the job Richardson is doing, and 4 percent said they don’t know whether they approve of his performance.

Richardson’s approval dropped below 50 percent for the first time in January as became dogged by a controversy involving the ongoing federal grand jury investigation into allegations of pay to play in his administration. The struggling economy is also a drag on many politicians’ approval ratings.