A new poll finds that the governor’s approval rating is below 50 percent, but still slightly more people approve of her job than disapprove.
The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling for NM Political Report, found that 46 percent of New Mexico voters approve of Michelle Lujan Grisham’s job performance as governor compared to 45 percent who disapprove.
This is very similar to the 47 percent who approve of President Joe Biden’s job performance and 45 percent who disapprove.
NM Political Report will release more results from the poll throughout the week and the full results on Wednesday.
Lujan Grisham is up for reelection in 2022, and a number of Republican candidates have already announced their intention to run. No incumbent has lost in New Mexico since 1994, when incumbent Democrat Bruce King lost to Republican Gary Johnson.
Lujan Grisham has her highest approval rating among Democrats, 79 percent to 13 percent disapproval. Only 9 percent of Republicans approve of her job performance and 84 percent disapprove. She is also underwater among independents, with 33 percent who approve and 54 percent who disapprove.
Lujan Grisham had higher than average approval ratings among those who identify as Hipsanic or Latino (53 percent compared to 35 percent who disapprove), but lower among those who said they were white (40 percent approval to 55 percent disapproval). Those of other ethnicities approved 56 percent to 29 percent disapproval.
The poll also surveyed the approval rating of both of New Mexico’s U.S. Senators. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich had a 42 percent approval rating and 34 percent disapproval rating.
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján had an approval rating of 41 percent and disapproval rating of 40 percent.
Neither of the senators are up for election in 2022.
The poll was conducted on August 16 and 17 and surveyed 682 registered voters throughout New Mexico. The poll has a 3.8 percent margin of error on topline results.
