Thursday, February 25, 2010
COLUMBUS — Ohioans don’t have much faith in government, according to a poll released Wednesday.
Only 1 percent of registered voters questioned by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute believe the federal government does the right thing “almost all of the time,” while 15 percent said it does the right thing “most of the time.”
Another 42 percent said the feds do the right thing “only some of the time,” and 40 percent responded “hardly ever.”
Respondents also had net negative views of the Republican and Democratic parties but positive views of the Tea Party movement.
“It is clear that voter anger is bipartisan. They are fed up with both parties,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the polling institute, said in a released statement.
“Whether the Tea Party movement becomes a significant political force will be seen in the May primary and the November election, but clearly it has the potential to be a big factor in elections this year.”
Quinnipiac regularly gauges Ohioans’ opinions on candidates and issues. It polled 1,662 voters over the past week with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points
In the U.S. Senate match, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher widened his lead over Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in the Democratic primary, with 29 percent favoring Fisher and 20 percent Brunner.
That compares with 24 percent-22 percent during the last Quinnipiac poll in November.
“... [But] 48 percent of Democrats are undecided about who to support in the May 4 primary,” Brown said. “Fisher rates slightly higher than Ms. Brunner on a number of measures of support.”
But both candidates trail Republican Rob Portman, who leads Fisher 40 percent to 37 percent and Brunner 40 percent to 35 percent.
Also according to Wednesday’s poll, only 2 percent of Ohioans believe state government does the right thing “almost all the time,” and 20 percent said “most of the time.”
But 57 percent said state government does the right thing “some of the time,” and 20 percent responded “hardly ever.”
mkovac@dixcom.com