Gonzales Poll: Hogan still highly popular, so is $15 minimum wage

Gonzales Poll: Hogan still highly popular, so is $15 minimum wage

Gov. Larry Hogan said his proposed budget for FY2021 will not raise taxes. (Governor's Press Office photo)

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Here is the analysis by pollster Patrick Gonzales of the public opinion survey his firm, Gonzales Research and Media Services, conducted last week. Here are the full results of the polling.  

By Patrick Gonzales

Larry Hogan keeps defying Newton’s third law of motion, which states, “what goes up must come down.” Statewide, 78% of voters approve of the job Hogan is doing as governor (48% “strongly approve”), while only 16% disapprove.

I don’t think political parties were around when that apple fell on Sir Isaac’s head in the 17th century, but he might have reconsidered his third law upon seeing that 72% of Democrats approve of the job GOP Hogan is doing; not to mention the 73% of African-Americans approving of a Republican governor. Eighty-five percent of Republican voters, and 85% of independents approve of the job the governor is doing.

Fifty-eight percent of Maryland voters say that things in Maryland are moving in the right direction, while 25% say that things in Maryland are on the wrong track.

Among Maryland voters, 60% favor the idea of a law requiring all employers in the state to pay their workers a minimum salary of $15 per hour (43% “strongly favor” and 17% “somewhat favor”), while 35% oppose a law requiring a $15 per hour minimum wage (27% “strongly oppose” and 8% “somewhat oppose”), with 5% offering no response.

Seventy-nine percent of Democrats favor the concept of a $15 minimum wage.

Politicians are laboring over Labor Day school openings. Among voters, 56% say that all public schools in Maryland should stay closed through Labor Day, while 40% believe that local school jurisdictions should decide when the school year begins. Voters between the ages of 35 and 54 are the only bloc in which a majority don’t think schools should be mandated to remain closed through the holiday that marks the end of summer.

In Maryland today, a bill is under consideration that would allow individuals to put an “X” on their driver’s license, to designate their gender as “unspecified.” Statewide, 37% of voters favor allowing individuals to designate their gender as “unspecified” on a driver’s license, while 51% oppose allowing individuals to put an “X” on their license, in lieu of selecting either male or female.

This poll was conducted by Gonzales Research & Media Services from February 22nd through March 1st, 2019. A total of 817 registered voters in Maryland, who indicated that they vote regularly in general elections, were queried by live telephone interviews, utilizing both landline and cell phone numbers. A cross-section of interviews was conducted throughout the state, reflecting general election voting patterns.

The margin of error (MOE), per accepted statistical standards, is a range of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. If the entire population was surveyed, there is a 95% probability that the true numbers would fall within this range.

About The Author

Len Lazarick

len@marylandreporter.com

Len Lazarick was the founding editor and publisher of MarylandReporter.com and is currently the president of its nonprofit corporation and chairman of its board He was formerly the State House bureau chief of the daily Baltimore Examiner from its start in April 2006 to its demise in February 2009. He was a copy editor on the national desk of the Washington Post for eight years before that, and has spent decades covering Maryland politics and government.

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