Annapolis, MD — Maryland Democrats see big opportunities in the new poll released today by Our Maryland. Governor Hogan’s approval ratings have fallen by 13 points to 57 percent since September 2016, and the percentage of Marylanders who support giving him a second term has fallen by 12 points to 45 percent since February 2017.
Hogan is trailing behind Maryland’s most recent Republican Governor, Bob Ehrlich, who also failedto receive support for reelection from 50 percent of Marylanders in a January 2006 poll and went on to lose to Governor Martin O’Malley by more than 6 points.
“Heading into a hostile political environment for Republicans in next year’s election, Maryland voters are reluctant to give Governor Hogan a second term,” said Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews. “Not only has he failed to stand up against the Trump tax scam and efforts to sabotage healthcare, his lack of support for education is undermining the Maryland economy.”
The poll comes after a series of polls showing bad signs for Governor Hogan’s reelection odds. A poll released last month by OpinionWorks polling showed that less than half of Maryland voters—only 43 percent—want to give Governor Hogan a second term. The poll also found that Hogan’s approval ratings have dropped by 5 points since last year and his disapproval has gone up 8 points. A Mason Dixon poll also released in November found that a majority of Marylanders would not support Governor Hogan’s bid for a second term. A Goucher poll released in September found that since February, Governor Hogan’s approval rating with Maryland Republicans has dropped by 9 points; Republican voters who think Maryland is on the right track has dropped by 7 points; and the percentage of Republican voters who support his bid for reelection has dropped by 5 points.
Hogan is also losing the confidence of the Maryland Republican establishment. There have been reports that Governor Horgan is “rapidly losing support from the base” of the Republican Party and that Republican insiders are worried his “re-election is in peril…” Hogan’s poll numbers among Republican voters have slipped markedly. On election night, one Republican Member of the House of Delegates reportedly predicted that next year will be “a bad year for Maryland Republicans.”