New WISH-TV/Ball State Hoosier Survey Shows Mike Pence Can’t Shake His RFRA Hangover

INDIANAPOLIS – After a year of putting Indiana’s “Hoosier Hospitality” and “Crossroads of America” reputations in jeopardy, Governor Mike Pence’s reelection vulnerability continues as a new WISH-TV/Ball State Hoosier Survey shows the governor’s approval rating dropped 15 points from the same survey a year before. And not only is the governor’s race a statistical tie, but Mike Pence’s approval rating has not budged since he signed RFRA into law last spring.

“Governor Mike Pence is in denial if he thinks he’s in the clear after bowing to special interests and throwing Indiana into a $250 million economic panic earlier this year. This RFRA hangover has caused Governor Pence to continue his late to the game strategy on solving today’s problems for everyday Hoosiers, including putting our other reputation – ‘Crossroads of America’ – in jeopardy,” said Drew Anderson, communications director for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Simply put, Hoosiers are tired of Mike Pence’s political agenda, and poll after poll shows they are ready to choose a leader who won’t put their out of touch ideology ahead of our state’s overall well-being.”

Images by WISH-TV

Today’s poll fits the ongoing trend that Mike Pence’s ideology is having long-term damage to his credibility as governor. In June, a poll released by Republican-leaning Bellwhether Research and Consulting showed 54 percent of Hoosiers thought it was time to give someone else a chance to lead the state of Indiana. And in April and after signing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a Howey Politics poll showed only 45% of Hoosiers approved of his job performance.

Further, recent analyses by RollCall’s Rothenberg & Gonzales and GOVERNING Magazine show Mike Pence’s vulnerability has caught the attention of Washington, D.C. In August, RollCall’s Rothenberg & Gonzales downgraded Pence’s upcoming 2016 chances at re-election from “FAVORED to “LEAN”. For GOVERNING, the magazine downgraded the race to “LEAN” Republican, a two-spot jump from a similar assessment done on January 23, 2015 – where Governing.com placed Governor Pence’s reelection chances in the “SAFE” category.