More than three-quarters of Marylanders approve of Gov. Larry Hogan’s job as governor, according to a new poll released Tuesday.
The poll, conducted by Gonzales Research & Media Services, is expected to be the Republican’s final gubernatorial rating as his eight years as the Maryland’s chief executive draw to a close Wednesday.
As he prepares to pass the torch to his Democratic successor Gov.-elect Wes Moore, who will be sworn in on Wednesday, Hogan holds the approval of 77% of Marylanders – nearly his highest rating of his two terms as governor.
Gonzales first asked voters about their approval of Hogan’s job as governor in January 2016, one year after he took office. At the time, he had an approval rating of 67%.
In the 14 times that Gonzales has asked voters to rate Hogan’s performance since that initial poll, the Republican’s approval rating has never again been below 70%.
Hogan’s highest approval rating was 78% in March 2019, March 2020, and May 2020. His average approval rating over his eight years as Maryland’s governor was 74%.
At the federal level, President Joe Biden’s approval rating in Maryland is 58%, up four percentage points from one year ago.
Biden’s approval rating among Democrats is 81%, while only 14% of Republicans approve of his job as president. Among unaffiliated voters, 51% approve of Biden’s job as president.
“For us, the most fascinating finding in this survey is that Republican Larry
Hogan leaves office with the same approval as Democrat Joe Biden among black
voters in the Free State of Maryland,” Gonzales writes.
Among Black voters in Maryland, 81% approve of Hogan’s job as governor and 78% approve of Biden’s job as president.
Nearly three-quarters of Marylanders (73%) disapprove of the job the U.S. Congress is doing, with only 19% approving of their performance.
More than half of Maryland voters (59%) say the country is moving in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, about one-third (31%) said the country is moving in the right direction, and 10% offered no opinion.
The economy and inflation are the top issue for Marylanders, with 29% saying it is the most important issue facing Maryland today. It was followed closely by crime and public safety, with 24% of respondents saying that was the state’s most important issue.
Other issues that Marylanders said were the most important included education (10%), roads and transportation (10%), affordable housing (8%), climate change and the environment (7%), and immigration issues (6%).
Gonzales Research & Media Services surveyed 823 registered Maryland voters by phone from Jan. 9-14. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
