Romney approval rating drops among Utah voters: poll

Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) approval rating dropped by 11 percentage points since March, according to a new poll, as the former Republican presidential candidate is set to decide whether to run for a second term in the U.S. Senate.

In a recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll, Romney’s approval rating among Utah voters dropped to 41 percent, down 11 points from March, when 52 percent of Utah voters said they either strongly or somewhat approved of the senator.

Romney’s disapproval rating increased by 5 percentage points, with 49 percent of respondents saying they disapproved of Romney, up from 44 percent in March. Ten percent of respondents said they don’t know, up from 4 percent in March.

When asked whether they approve or disapprove of Romney’s performance, 15 percent of respondents said they strongly approve, 26 percent said they somewhat approve, 19 percent said they somewhat disapprove, 30 percent said they strongly disapprove, and 10 percent said they don’t know.

The poll, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates from May 22 to June 1, surveyed 798 Utah voters and had a margin of error of +/- 3.46 percentage points.

In the most recent poll, Utahns were split on whether Romney should run for reelection, but a majority of Democrats said he should run again, whereas a majority of Republicans said he should not.

Asked whether he should run again, 51 percent of all respondents said no, 47 percent said yes, and 3 percent said they didn’t know. Among Republican voters, 54 percent said Romney should not run again. Among Democratic voters, nearly 55 percent said Romney should.

Romney has distinguished himself in the U.S. Senate as one of the few members willing to vocally criticize former President Trump. He was the sole Republican to vote to convict Trump in the former president’s first impeachment trial. He was acquitted.

Romney filed paperwork to run for reelection, but he has yet to announce whether he would run again. Filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission allows Romney to raise money before making his official announcement.

If Romney does run for reelection, he is certain to face a primary challenge. He recently said he would announce his decision in the summer or fall.

“I am doing what I’ve got to do to make sure that if I decide to run again, I’ll win. So I’m raising money, I put together a team and keeping my options open,” he said, Desert News reported.

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