NM Gov. Susana Martinez Finishes First Year With Huge Approval Rating

Susana Martinez is a Republican, and a Texan. As governor of New Mexico, she seems to be doing a very good job on jobs. A new poll by Public Opinion Strategies has her at 65% approval a year into her term. New Mexico’s unemployment is down two full points this year. According to the NM GOP’s press release:

Susana Martinez boasts strong, cross-party approval numbers for her performance as Governor.
Nearing the end of her first year in office, Governor Martinez has a 65% approval/29% disapproval rating for her job handling.

The Governor’s approval rating has actually improved over the course of the year, from 59% approval in March to 64% approval in August to 65% in the current survey.

• Among Republicans, Martinez holds a 90% approve/7% disapprove rating; among Independents, 62% approve and 29% disapprove, and; among Democrats, Martinez is at 49% approve/44% disapprove.  Among soft Democrats, her approval rating is 74% approve/17% disapprove.

• Sixty-two percent (62%) of Hispanics and 68% of white voters approve of the job performance of the Governor.

Methodology
Public Opinion Strategies conducted a telephone survey of 500 registered voters in the State of New Mexico on December 12-13, 2011.  The survey has a margin of error of +4.38%.  Survey respondents were 34% Republican, 51% Democrat and 15% Independent, which reflects the composition of the electorate in the 2008 general election and mirrors the current voter registration gap between Republicans and Democrats in the state (17%).

It’s amazing (and not really surprising at all that) when a politician makes sound promises and then delivers on them, their approval rating goes up. When they keep government out of the way of creating jobs, their approval rating goes up. Congratulations to Gov. Martinez.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a “jobs governor” running for president?

Wait — don’t we?

Don’t we have a governor in the race who has a pretty good record on the one thing that tends to determine election outcomes more than ideology, debate performances, “electability,” and other issues that have tended to dominate this year?

I think we do.