Poll: Mia Love is Utah’s Highest Rated Member of Congress

Congress02Utahns don’t like Congress much, but they do approve of the job performance of the state’s four House members.

 
Our latest UtahPolicy.com survey finds just 30% of Utahns approve of the U.S. House of Representatives and 26% approve of the U.S. Senate.
 
However, residents do give the four Republican members of Congress high marks.
 
  • 4th District Rep. Mia Love has the highest approval rating in the House, coming in at 65%. 29% of those in Utah’s 4th District say they disapprove of her performance.
  • Rep. Jason Chaffetz gets approval from 64% of 3rd District residents while 29% disapprove.
  • 63% of 1st District residents approve of the Rep. Rob Bishop’s performance while 24% say they disagree with him.
  • Rep. Chris Stewart is under 50% approval in his district (48%) with 22% disapproval. 33% say they don’t have an opinion.
 
 

 
As you might expect, Republicans really like Mia Love’s job performance while Democrats dislike her very much. 86% of Republicans approve of her while 70% of Democrats disapprove. Independents are split, with 50% approving and 46% registering disapproval.
 
Love is facing a re-election rematch this year with Democrat Doug Owens, who came within 5,000 votes of defeating her 2014. To have a shot at unseating Love this year Owens needs to appeal to independents and, to a lesser extent, Republicans. Given her strong support from those aligned with the GOP and the split among independents, that’s likely going to be a difficult prospect for Owens.
 
Rep. Chris Stewart’s less than 50% approval is somewhat alarming, given this is his second term. Incumbents should be above 50% heading into an election year. 1/3 of residents in Stewart’s 2nd District said they have no opinion about the job performance of the two-term Republican. That suggests Stewart needs to do more to improve his public profile. That unfamiliarity with Stewart stretches across party lines.
 
  • 28% of Republicans expressed no opinion about Stewart.
  • 38% of Democrats had no opinion of Stewart.
  • 31% of independent voters said the same.
 
Chaffetz and Bishop appear to be sitting pretty with their constituents ahead of any 2016 re-election bid.
 
Another way to look at these numbers is the net approval rating, which is the approval numbers minus the disapproval rating. 
 
  • Rob Bishop has the highest net approval rating of the delegation at +39. 
  • Mia Love’s approval net approval rating is also solidly in positive territory at +36.
  • Rep. Jason Chaffetz enjoys a +35 net approval rating. 
  • Stewart’s net approval is lower than the rest of the delegation, but still in positive territory at +24.
 
While it shouldn’t come as a shock, it’s worth noting that conservatives love the four Republican members of Congress, while Utahns on the political left are not dues-paying members of their fan clubs.
 
The survey was conducted by Dan Jones and Associates from November 5-14, 2015. The 1st District survey was among 153 adults and has a margin of error +/- 8.92%. The 2nd District survey covered 144 adults and has a margin of error +/- 8.17%. The 3rd District poll was among 118 adults with a margin of error +/- 9.02%. The 4th District survey was conducted among 113 adults with a margin of error +/- 9.22%.