The economy and politics/politicians are again among the top concerns for Arkansans, and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ approval rating is 48%, the lowest for an Arkansas governor since her father’s 47% in 2003.
That’s according to the 2023 Arkansas Poll, released Monday by the University of Arkansas.
The poll, designed and analyzed by UA political science professor Janine Parry, conducted 801 telephone interviews between Oct. 4 and Oct. 22. The statewide margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The average age category of respondents was 65 years.
More: Get the poll results here, and see a news release on the poll here. View previous poll results here.
In a news release, Parry noted that questions pertaining to life in Arkansas suggested that Arkansans were feeling “modestly more optimistic than last year.”
According to the survey, 61% of respondents said they think Arkansas is headed in the right direction, up 6 percentage points from last year. Thirty-three percent said they think Arkansas is headed in the wrong direction, up 1 point from last year, and 13% said they didn’t know or refused to answer.
But Parry pointed out that the portion of those answering “wrong direction” has increased in recent years, to 1 in 3.
“A volatile economic and political environment is likely influencing some people’s general sense of well-being, in Arkansas and elsewhere,” she said.
When asked whether they think they will be better, worse or the same financially a year from now, 18% said better, down 3 points from last year, while 53% said the same, up 11 points from last year. Twenty-five percent said they think they will be worse off, unchanged from the previous year.
Arkansas Politicians
As it has for 25 years, the poll also asked whether respondents approve of state political figures, including their governor, U.S. senators and legislators.
According to the poll, 48% of respondents approved of Sanders, the Republican who is in her first year as governor. Thirty-nine percent disapprove and 13% said they didn’t know or refused to answer.
Sanders performed a bit better among the poll’s 658 likely voters, with an approval rating of 51%. Forty percent of likely voters disapproved and 9% said they didn’t know or refused to answer.
That’s the lowest approval rating for an Arkansas governor since Sanders’ father, Mike Huckabee, a Republican, who had a 47% approval rating in 2003. At the time, 38% disapproved and 15% said they didn’t know or refused to answer.
Other Arkansas governors had higher approval ratings in their first year in office. The poll showed 70% approval for Democrat Mike Beebe in 2007 and 57% for Republican Asa Hutchinson in 2015. (Huckabee’s approval rating was 66% in 1999, which was his fourth year as governor but the first year of the Arkansas Poll.)
Still, Sanders’ approval rating was better than those of Arkansas’ two U.S. Senators and the Legislature.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman’s approval rating was 40%, with 38% disapproval. Twenty-two percent said they didn’t know or refused to answer. Boozman’s approval rating dropped 5 percentage points from last year.
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton’s approval rating was 42%, with 39% disapproval. Fourteen percent said they didn’t know or refused to answer. Cotton’s approval rating dropped 6 percentage points from last year.
The state Legislature’s approval rating was 43%, with 39% disapproval. Eighteen percent said they didn’t know or refused to answer. The General Assembly’s approval rating rose 3 percentage points from last year.
As for the president, Arkansans overwhelmingly disapprove. Thirty-three percent approve of Joe Biden, while 63% disapprove and 4% said they didn’t know or refused to answer. Still, the Democratic president’s approval rating gained 2 percentage points from last year.
Services
The poll also found that the overwhelming majority of respondents said they were “very satisfied or satisfied” with state and local services like police protection, public libraries, parks and recreation or colleges and universities.
But two areas of “unsatisfied or very unsatisfied” approached or exceeded 50% — K-12th grade public schools (47%) and the public welfare system (53%). Dissatisfaction with public schools rose by 6 percentage points from last year. In a news release accompanying the results, poll organizers noted that both areas “were also the two areas of highest dissatisfaction 20 years ago, showing the durability of that dissatisfaction over time.”
Asked about health care and hospital services, 33% said they were “unsatisfied or very unsatisfied,” up 4 points from last year. Sixty-four percent said they were “very satisfied or satisfied,” down 5 points from last year. Three percent said they didn’t know or refused to answer.
The Arkansas Poll is sponsored by the Diane D. Blair Center for Southern Politics and Society at the UA.
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