New Goucher Poll Gives Hogan 64 Percent Approval Rating

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Gov. Hogan's re-election campaign is bolstered by the new Goucher poll that gives him a 64 percent approval rating with more than half of voters polled approving of the direction the state is taking.

As a Republican, almost half consider him a moderate and said he has kept the right amount of distance between himself and Donald Trump.

Mileah Kromer is the director of the Goucher Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center, which conducts the poll.

"So how does a Republican governor do this well in a state with so many Democrats with such an unpopular president, particularly among Democrats at the very tippy top of the Republican party? What we see is that through moderation Hogan has been able to appeal to a larger cross section of voters," Kromer said.

54 percent of Marylanders think the state is heading in the right direction, but 30 percent said it's on the wrong track.

The biggest complain, 56 percent, said taxes are too high, the very issue Hogan rode into office on in 2014.

The poll found most doubt its money well spent.

"More than half of Maryland residents say they don't really trust the Maryland state government to wisely spend their tax dollars," Kromer said.

The poll found a majority of residents, 71 percent support a $15 minimum wage, and that 62 percent support legalizing marijuana, two things Democratic candidate for governor Ben Jealous is proposing.

Goucher will release more results Wednesday.

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