A new Mason Dixon poll shows a plurality of Missouri voters disapprove of Republican Governor Eric Greitens job performance while a similar percentage thinks he should resign.
Governor Eric Greitens photographed after being taken into custody (Photo courtesy of the St. Louis City Sheriff’s office)
47% of those surveyed disapprove of the job Greitens is doing while only 41% approve and 12% are unsure. The governor’s approval numbers track closely with voter sentiment on whether he should resign from office.
Statewide, roughly 48% feel Greitens should resign, while 36% say he should not and 16% are not sure. Mason-Dixon offers its own observation on those stats, saying the latter groups is, “likely waiting to see as more facts emerge.”
Greitens is charged with felony invasion of privacy for allegedly photographing his mistress in a state of undress and then threatening to distribute the photo if she told others about their relationship. He also faces legal challenges on several other fronts.
His approval rating is still above water with Republicans and Independents while he’s flirting with single digits among Democrats. 63% of GOP voters back Greitens, although 20% disapprove.
He’s still in positive territory with Independents by a tight 46%-to-43% margin. Among Democrats, 14% approve of his job performance while 79% disapprove.
Greitens approval ratings are also divided along age, sex, and regional lines.
He’s most popular in Northern Missouri where his approval rating is 53%, while a plurality of voters of between 44% and 48% give him the thumbs up in the central, southeast and southwest parts of the state.
A majority of voters in metro St. Louis, 51%-36%, disapprove of Greitens job performance as do those surveyed in metro Kansas City, 55-34%.
A plurality of men approve of the governor,45%-41% while a majority of women, 52%-38%, do not. 52% of voters under the age of 50 disapprove of the governor’s performance while a plurality those over 50, 45%-42%, approve.
The same divisions are present, although somewhat more pronounced, on the question of whether Greitens should resign.
Those under 50 favor his resignation by a nearly 2-to-1 spread, 57%-30%. Voters over 50 are evenly divided on whether he should leave, 41%-41%.
A majority of those surveyed in the two large metro areas want Greitens to resign. The margin in metro St. Louis is 56%-28% while it’s 53%-31% in metro Kansas City.
A plurality of voters in the regional areas outside the big cities do not think he should leave office. The margin is 44%-40% in northern Missouri while it’s 45%-42% in the central part of the state, 50%-38% in the southeast and 41%-37% in southwest Missouri.
In addition to the criminal charges against Greitens is a state House special committee probe into the same issue. He also faces a lawsuit from two eastern Missouri attorneys who contend his office’s use of an app that erases text messages represents a violation of open records and records retention laws.
Greitens is further being examined by the state Ethics Commission for misuse of a donor list from his former non-profit, the Mission Continues, for campaign purposes. Attorney General Josh Hawley, R, is also probing that matter.
