Lowcountry Poll Numbers a Bad Sign for Haley and Graham?

The big polling news on Tuesday was that Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch was leading Mark Sanford in the First Congressional District race.

But in that same poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, both Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Lindsey Graham had results from Lowcountry voters that were less than they would have liked. 

More people disapproved of the job Haley is doing than approved, by 45 to 41 percent. 

Respondents in the poll under the age of 45 view Haley most negatively. 32 percent approve of the job she is doing while 55 percent do not.

Interestingly, Haley is less popular with women than men. 45 percent of men approve of her performance, while 36 percent of women do.

Meanwhile, Graham, like Haley, is also "under water." 44 percent of those polled disapprove of his performance compared to 40 percent who approve.

Younger voters are also a challenge for Graham. Those between 30-45 disapprove of his performance twice as much as those who approve, 56-28 percent.

The Lowcountry is generally considered to be less conservative than other parts of South Carolina, but the First District went for Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race by a margin of 58-40 percent.

Heading into an election year in 2014, the numbers may give Haley and Graham pause. But not necessarily, according to Haley's spokesman Rob Godfrey.

"Polls are a sideshow," he said. "They go up and down, but Governor Haley stays focused on bringing jobs to South Carolina and fixing state government badly in need of repair."

S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian believes the numbers are forboding for Haley and reflect dissatisfaction with her rejection of federal Medicaid dollars and the state's economic struggles. Harpootlian said, "

“Governor Haley refuses to bring South Carolina tax dollars home to create 44,000 jobs out of political spite. She’s taken an ideological victory lap for obstructing a health care expansion policy that would prevent MUSC from having to potentially lay off 1200 of the 12,500 workers they employ in the first district. South Carolina continues to face one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, but the only job Nikki Haley is worried about is her own. Of course the people of South Carolina’s first district are not impressed – at every turn, Governor Haley has put politics above the people she was elected to serve and they know South Carolina deserves better.”

The poll was conducted between March 22-24 with 1,175 likely voters.

Keep up with all of Patch's coverage of South Carolina politics by following us on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE.