A Michigan State University pollster says new survey numbers suggest Governor Snyder has suffered “some permanent” damage from the Flint water crisis.
MSU’s State of the State Survey polled nearly 1,000 people between December and March, during the height of the crisis.
Survey director Charles Ballard says the percentage of people rating Snyder’s job performance as “poor” more than doubled, from 21% to 44%.
“You’ve got so many people who are now rating him poor who never did before,” says Ballard. “I don’t think that’s going to go away entirely.”
Snyder’s approval ratings fell among Republicans and Democrats, and by an even wider margin among independents.
Ironically, while most of those surveyed put the blame for the Flint water crisis on the governor or state government, the SOSS poll shows a slight uptick in trust in state government. The percentage of people saying they have “trust” in state government rose from 19.8% to 20.4%
Since the survey took place during the height of the news coverage about Flint’s lead tainted drinking water, it is probably no surprise that Michiganders polled were more interested in urban infrastructure than in the past.
Nearly a third of those surveyed said “urban infrastructure” was the most important issue facing the state. Jobs/economy, education, fixing Michigan’s roads and crime rounded out the top five issues cited in the poll.
