Gov. Tom Corbett's standing with voters has slipped again, with even Republicans showing discontent, and his handling of the Penn State sex abuse isn't helping him, according to a new poll released Tuesday.
More than four in 10 Pennsylvanians (42 percent) disapprove of the way the governor is doing his job, with between three and four in 10 (36 percent) approving, according to the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute survey. In November, more people approved of Corbett's job performance than disapproved (40 to 38 percent).
Fewer than a third of voters (31 percent) said they think Corbett deserves re-election with more than half (51 percent) believing he does not. Corbett lacked even the support of a majority of Republicans (49 percent) asked if he deserves re-election, though the poll's margin of error could mean he is actually above the 50 percent threshold. Almost three in 10 (29 percent) of Republicans say he does not deserve re-election. His job performance rating among Republicans (52 percent approval/25 percent disapproval) is about the same as earlier polls.
"It's halftime in Gov. Tom Corbett's first term and if he were running a football team instead of a state, he'd fire his offensive coordinator," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement.
Efforts to reach Corbett's chief spokesman, Kevin Harley, were unsuccessful.
Corbett isn't alone in showing slippage. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, at 49 percent approval/37 percent disapproval shortly after the November election, dropped to 44 percent approval/36 percent disapproval in the latest poll. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey had a 43 percent approval rating to 25 percent disapproval, about the same numbers as November.
The poll surveyed 1,221 registered voters between Jan. 22 and Sunday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
The poll arrived just a week before the governor is scheduled to unveil his 2013-14 budget, which could further affect how he is viewed.
Corbett's mediocre polling numbers are fueling the hopes not only of Democrats out to break the state's eight-year, alternating-party voting cycle, but also that of at least one Republican. Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor, a former district attorney who lost the Republican nomination for state attorney general to Corbett in 2004, has said he is seriously considering challenging Corbett.
In an interview Tuesday after the poll's release, Castor said the poll raises more concern about Corbett's re-election chances, but many factors - the state budget, the governor's transportation plan and others - are likely to affect his standing the next few months.
All could enhance Corbett's re-election hopes, Castor said.
"If that doesn't happen, I don't want to take us down Santorum road and have everybody follow him off the cliff," he said, referring to U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, whose polling numbers were poor well before his losing 2006 re-election campaign.
The poll asked only two questions related to potential reasons for voter unhappiness with the governor.
Overall, the number of Pennsylvanians who say they are at least somewhat satisfied "with the way things are going in Pennsylvania" is also down - between four and five in 10 (45 percent) in the latest poll and more than half (51 percent) in November. The percent of people at least somewhat dissatisfied is also up (48 to 55 percent).
The poll did not ask if Pennsylvanians blame Corbett for that, but the disapproval of him is tied directly to women voters. Less than a third of women (31 percent) approve of the way he is handling his job with between four and five in 10 (45 percent) disapproving. By contrast, men slightly approved (41 percent to 37 percent).
"Gov. Corbett has hit the 50 percent approval rating only once so far, mainly because of his bad grades from women," Malloy said.
The poll also showed Corbett's handling of "the Penn State situation over the last few years" continues to vex voters. Slightly more than a quarter (26 percent) of voters approve, but half (50 percent) disapprove. More approve (43 percent) than disapprove (37 percent) of his lawsuit challenging the NCAA sanctions against Penn State over the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case. That is probably because fewer than three in 10 voters (28 percent) believe the punishment was appropriate while more than half (53 percent) think the sanctions were too severe.
Because of Penn State officials' behavior in the Sandusky case, the NCAA banned the school's football team from playing in bowl games for four years, restricted football scholarships, fined the school $60 million and wiped out 111 wins under the late Coach Joe Paterno.
Voters opinion of Paterno remains more favorable (43 percent) than unfavorable (29 percent).