MPR: Governor Ventura's Performance

Governor Ventura's Performance
July 14 1999
Analysis | Poll Results | Poll Methodology | Story

ANALYSIS

Jesse Ventura's job performance rating is relatively unchanged over the last three months, although most voters who were withholding their opinion of the governor seem to to be giving him more mixed reviews.

Statewide, 56% rate Ventura's performance as "excellent" or "good" (down from 57%), while 35% rate it as "only fair" (up from 24%), and 8% rate it "poor" (up from 2%). In previous polls, 16-17% of voters said it was too early to rate Ventura's performance, but with his first legislative session behind him, that now stands at a mere 1%.

Ventura Job Performance

Poll Date	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Undecided
December '98	14%	55%	12%	3%	16%
April '99	12%	45%	24%	2%	17%
July '99	11%	45%	35%	8%	1%

About half of the state voters (49%) continue to feel Ventura is a "needed breath of fresh air," but those feeling he is an "embarrassment" has jumped from 5% to 16%.

Poll Date	Fresh Air	Embarrassment	Too Soon/Don't Know
December '98	45%	3%	52%
April '99	54%	5%	41%
July '99	49%	16%	35%

Several of Ventura's recent actions divide Minnesota voters. Statewide, 47% said his book promotion was "inappropriate", while 42% had no problem with it. State voters are evenly divided over whether the state or VEntura should pay for his book tour security. A majority (53%), however, felt some of Ventura's remarks regarding a political opponent were "offensive, overly personal and inappropriate."

Despite Ventura's popularity, only 3% of Minnesota voters say they identify with his Reform Party. Statewide, 37% identify with the Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party, 33% identify with the Republican Party, and 27% say they are independents or identify with no political party. The DFL's strength is with older Minnesotans, while many younger voters do not identify with any party.

RESULTS

QUESTION : How would you rate the performance of Jesse Ventura as governor: excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?

Option	State	Men	Women	DFL	Republican	Ind/Ref
Excellent	11%	9%	13%	12%	7%	14%
Good	45%	43%	47%	40%	45%	51%
Fair	35%	37%	33%	37%	37%	31%
Poor	8%	10%	6%	9%	12%	3%
Undecided	1%	1%	1%	2%	-	1%

QUESTION: Which of the following statements comes closest to your point of view?

Governor Ventura is a needed breath of fresh air in state government.
Governor Ventura is an embarrassment to the state.
It is too soon to judge.

Option	State	Men	Women	DFL	Republican	Ind/Ref
Fresh Air	49%	52%	46%	39%	50%	60%
Embarrassment	16%	19%	13%	23%	18%	5%
Too Soon	29%	24%	34%	33%	25%	29%
Both/Neither	6%	5%	7%	5%	7%	6%

QUESTION: Governor Ventura has spent a substantial amount of his own time writing and promoting a new book about his life. Do you think that is appropriate or inappropriate?

Option	State	Men	Women
Appropriate	42%	43%	41%
Inappropriate	47%	43%	51%
Undecided	11%	14%	8%

QUESTION: Governor Ventura has been criticized for using $16,000 in state money to have two state guards and an aide from his office accompany him during his book promotion tour. Which of the following comes closer to your view? (order rotated)

State should pay.
He should pay.
Not sure.

Option	State	Men	Women
State should pay	46%	47%	45%
He should pay	46%	45%	47%
Not sure	8%	8%	8%

QUESTION : On his weekly radio show, Governor Ventura recently called one of his critics a big load ... who ain't never run around the block before in his whole life, and doesn't have a real job." Which of the following comes closer to your view? (order rotated)

Such remarks reflect the governor's free-wheeling personality and style.
Such remarks are offensive, overly personal, and inappropriate for the governor.

Option	State	Men	Women
Reflect style	42%	49%	35%
Offensive	53%	44%	62%
Not sure	5%	7%	3%

QUESTION: Generally speaking, would you say you identify mostly with the Democrat-Farmer-Labor party (DFL), the Republican Party, or the Reform Party?

Option	State	Men	Women	Less than 45	45 and older
DFL	37%	33%	41%	33%	41%
Republican	33%	36%	30%	34%	32%
Reform	3%	4%	2%	2%	4%
Independent/None	27%	27%	27%	31%	23%

POLL METHODOLOGY
The St. Paul poll was conducted July 9 - 12, 1999 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. of Washington, D.C. A total of 624 registered Minnesota voters were interviewed by telephone. All stated they regularly vote in state elections.

Those interviewed were selected by the random variation of the last four digits of telephone numbers. A cross-section of exchanges were utilized in order to ensure an accurate reflection of the state. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter turn-out by county.

The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 4 percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if the entire population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any subgroup, such as a regional or gender grouping.

Sample Figures:
Men 311 (50%)
Women 313 (50%)

Region	Interviews
Minneapolis/St. Paul	346 interviews
Rochester/Southeast	71 interviews
Southwest Minnesota	65 interviews
Northwest Minnesota	68 interviews
Duluth/Northeast	74 interviews

PLEASE NOTE: This report is the property of Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research, Inc. It is not for duplication and/or redistribution. Copies of this report are available only through subscription. Subscribers are prohibited from providing this document to any third party. Any party in an unauthorized possession, engaging in unauthorized use. or involved in the unauthorized duplication or transmission of this document is subject to all applicable criminal and civil penalties.

Poll Copyright 1999, Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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