August 29, 2023

Lujan Grisham approval rating at 47 percent while Heinrich and Luján have lower ratings

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham continues to have more voters approve of her job performance than disapprove, though the number remains below 50 percent. Meanwhile, both of New Mexico’s U.S. Senators have more voters who approve of their job performance than disapprove but a large amount have no opinion. A poll conducted by Public Policy Polling […]

Matthew Reichbach

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham continues to have more voters approve of her job performance than disapprove, though the number remains below 50 percent.

Meanwhile, both of New Mexico’s U.S. Senators have more voters who approve of their job performance than disapprove but a large amount have no opinion.

A poll conducted by Public Policy Polling for NM Political Report found that 47 percent of New Mexico voters approve of Lujan Grisham’s job performance, compared to 43 percent who disapprove. Another 9 percent are not sure. Numbers on polls may not add up to 100 percent because of rounding.

In a poll taken last October, weeks before Lujan Grisham won reelection, 46 percent said they approved of Lujan Grisham’s job performance compared to 49 percent who disapproved.

Lujan Grisham went on to win reelection against Republican Mark Ronchetti, 52 percent to 45.6 percent.

Lujan Grisham’s approval rating was highest among those who identified as Hispanic or Latino. Of those surveyed, 58 percent approved of her job performance, while 35 percent disapproved. But among white voters, Lujan Grisham was underwater, with 51 percent disapproving and 41 percent approving. Among other ethnicities, 47 percent approved while 29 percent disapproved and nearly a quarter—24 percent—said they were not sure.

Meanwhile, the story among the approval ratings for New Mexico’s two U.S. Senators, both Democrats, is that many voters said they don’t have an opinion on their job performance.

For U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, who will face reelection in 2024, 38 percent of voters said they approve of his job performance compared to 33 percent who disapprove. But 29 percent of voters said they were not sure.

U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján was slightly more well known, with 42 percent approving of his job performance, compared to 37 percent who disapproved. Still, 22 percent said they were not sure.

The poll surveyed 767 New Mexico voters on Aug. 23 and 24 via landline and text message. The survey used 35 percent landline and 65 percent text message.The poll has a margin of error of 3.5% for topline questions, though subpopulations will have a larger margin of error.