Ohio will vote November 8th on whether to repeal Gov. John Kasich’s (R) signature initiative, SB 5, a bill that among other things limits the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions in the state. Kasich argues the measure is necessary to keep government budgets in check. Unfortunately for the Governor, it looks like the bill is going down in flames.
A new poll from Quinnipiac University shows that 57 percent of Ohionas think the bill should be scuttled, versus only 32 percent who would like to keep it. That’s the highest level of opposition since Quinnipiac has been polling the issue in Ohio all the way back in May. A month ago the issue tightened up a little, seeing only a thirteen point lead for the advocates of repeal. But as the campaign against it kicked into full gear, pro-union forces have pushed that lead to 25 points. The latest Public Policy Polling (D) survey mirrored these findings.
The only subgroup of voters who want to keep the law are Republicans, who favor letting it remain 59 – 32. But all other groups, including Democrats and independent voters across all ages and incomes want it gone. It seems that much of the opposition comes from the fact that voter’s just don’t believe the argument that SB 5 is needed to balance Ohio’s budget, as only 34 percent said it’s necessary versus 57 who say it is not.
Gov. Kasich himself has also been hobbled by the bill, as he registers his highest disapproval rating in Quinnpiac’s polling in the October survey. A 52 percent majority are now down on Kasich’s Governorship in Ohio, with only 32 percent in his corner. He has had an underwater approval rating in the state almost all year in Quinnpiac polling, but this marks the first time disapproval gone over 50 percent.
“Anything is possible in politics, but with such across-the-board support for repealing SB 5, the governor and his team can’t be optimistic about the fate of their law,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in a release.
The Quinnpiac poll used 1,668 live telephone interviews with registered Ohio voters conducted from October 17th to the 23rd. It has a sampling error of 2.4 percent.
