President Joe Biden’s job approval rating is relatively unchanged from a previous reading, while Gov. Sarah Sanders has support for her job performance from 50% of Arkansas voters, according to a new survey released Sunday (Sept. 15).

The latest Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College Poll, conducted on Sept. 5-6, 2024, collected opinions from 696 likely Arkansas voters statewide and has a margin of error of +/- 4.6%.

Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the job Joe Biden is doing as President?

38% Approve
61% Disapprove
1% Don’t Know

Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the job Sarah Huckabee Sanders is doing as Governor?

50% Approve
43% Disapprove
7% Don’t Know

“These results are not re-election numbers, but are an assessment of job satisfaction among the state’s voters,” said Roby Brock, Talk Business & Politics Editor-in-Chief. “That said, President Biden’s numbers are in line with his historic disapproval in the state. This is the first time we’ve tested Gov. Sanders’ job performance, so we consider this a baseline for the future.”

ANALYSIS
Talk Business & Politics seeks bipartisan input in the construction and analysis of its polls.

Dr. Jay Barth, emeritus professor of politics at Hendrix College, is active in Democratic Party politics and helped craft and analyze the latest poll. He offered this analysis of the poll results:

“In addition to an examination of key matters on the November ballot, the survey also provided us an opportunity to track Arkansas voters’ opinions of the job performances of two chief executives: Joe Biden as President and Sarah Huckabee Sanders as Governor of Arkansas.

“Biden’s work as President continues to be disapproved by the bulk of the state’s voters although he is seen a bit more favorably than was the case two years ago. At this time in 2022, Biden’s performance was viewed favorably by 34% of the state’s voters; now he is running a nudge higher at 38%. This tracks some national numbers that suggest voters have been marginally more favorable towards the President since his July announcement that he would not seek a second term. The state’s Democratic voters are now solidly behind the President. Otherwise, his patterns of support and opposition very much track those shown in support for VP Kamala Harris in terms of demography and geography.

“Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is evaluated more favorably by the state’s voters although her approval numbers decidedly trail those of her two immediate predecessors—Governors Mike Beebe and Asa Hutchinson. Both Beebe and Hutchinson combined their partisans with large numbers of independents to create their group of core supporters; on occasion, a chunk of voters from the other party also voiced support for these popular governors.

“Instead, Sanders is very popular with Republicans, but emphatically opposed by Democrats (nearly nine in ten Democrats view her work unfavorably) and slightly under water with Independents (44% support; 49.5% oppose). She has simply a more polarizing governing style than her more moderate predecessors. Demographically, her coalition is very similar to that of former President Donald Trump, with whom she has regularly associated herself. She runs exceptionally well with rural voters and voters lacking a college degree. Male voters also see the state’s first female governor more favorably than do the state’s women voters, although this gender gap is a bit smaller than in the presidential race between Trump and Harris.”

Robert Coon, managing partner with Impact Management Group, which works with Republican political candidates, also helped craft and analyze the latest poll. He offered this analysis of the poll results:

“38% of general election voters approve of the job that Joe Biden is doing as president, a figure slightly lower than Vice President Kamala Harris’ share of the vote. Biden’s highest approval comes from voters 30-44 (47%) and Black voters (74%). Along party lines, 91% of Democrats approve of the job he is doing, compared to only 3% of Republicans. Independents net disapprove by 20-percentage points. Geographically, Biden is even in CD2 and CD3, and massively underwater in CD1 and CD4.

“Governor Sarah Sanders has a 7-percentage point net job approval rating. She tops 50% with all age groups except voters 30-44. The governor has widespread approval from Republicans (84%), while Democrats (90%) and independents (50%) net disapprove. Sanders, like President Trump, benefits from higher approval among non-college degree holders (57%). Along gender lines, she maintains a 13-percentage point net approval among men (53%), and her approval is even among women. Job approval is not necessarily representative of electoral strength and doesn’t indicate any future ballot weakness.”

METHODOLOGY
For more details on the poll’s methodology, including a breakdown of voters demographically, click here.

All media outlets are welcome to reprint, reproduce, or rebroadcast information from this poll with proper attribution to Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College. A link back to this specific story is also required for any digital or online usage by other media outlets.

For interviews, contact Talk Business & Politics Roby Brock by email at [email protected].

Related