1:45pm | Mayor Bob Foster has something to smile about – Long Beach voters by an impressive margin approve of his job performance. A solid majority of voters also believe that Long Beach is on the right track, further evidence of support for the city’s leadership.
In our new lbpost.com/Probolsky Research poll among likely Long Beach voters, Mayor Foster has a 63.7% approval rating, and only a 19.4% disapproval rating. Foster, a Democrat, is also popular among both members of his own party (66.3% in favor), and Republicans (58.2% in favor). The Mayor also has a 59.5% approval rating from male voters and 67.4% among female voters.
“Widespread dissatisfaction with elected officials throughout the country doesn’t seem to be the case in Long Beach with a vast majority of voters who support the Mayor and the direction their city is going,” explained Adam Probolsky, poll director and Chairman and CEO of Probolsky Research.
Mayor Foster has taken strong public stances on issues this year including his leadership on the Clean Trucks program, an effort to replace nearly 20,000 container hauling trucks in the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles with cleaner-burning models. He also came out in support of pension reform in Long Beach pitting him against many of the public employee unions.
He made headlines recently after he opened a committee for a potential run at the seat of California State Treasurer in 2014 and a few days later vetoed parts of the 2011 City Budget to implement additional cuts that saved an estimated $2.7 million from expenditures.
Voters were also tested on the direction that Long Beach is going, and the results bode well for both Mayor Foster and the City Council.
Long Beach Is On The Right Track
Our poll found that majority of voters (60.3%) feel that the City of Long Beach is on the right track compared to 23.7% who feel the city is on the wrong track. The poll also found that 71.4% of those aged 18-34 feel the city is on the right track and more women aged 18-54 feel the city is on the right track (66.3%) than those aged 55+ (55.1%). Also, more decline to state women feel the city is on the right track (62.5%) than decline to state men (42.9%).
“Voters are not saying life is perfect – far from it. We know many are struggling with job loss and the threat of foreclosure. But Long Beach is making decisions about the ability to provide vital services at adequate levels. And the citizens recognize this,” said Probolsky.
—
Our Polls
Poll: Mayor Foster At 63.7% Approval Rating, 60.3% Of Voters Say City On Right Track
Poll: Long Beach Divided On Local Ballot Measures, Pot Tax and Vet Proposition Poised to Pass
Poll: Support For Same-Sex Marriage In Long Beach Grows
Poll: Three Most Important Issues To Long Beach Voters
Click here to read our policy on covering the Long Beach City Council.
Publisher’s Note: In a February 2010 message to our readers we highlighted our role as a local leader in the changing world of news delivery. We remain committed to providing new ways for you to obtain the information you want. This week we launched our first comprehensive research poll in partnership with Probolsky Research and we encourage you to form an opinion and debate the results in the comments section below.
About the lbpost.com/Probolsky Research Poll
Click here for the detailed polling results.
lbpost.com is a daily, online media publication providing news, politics, business, life and sports coverage on issues impacting our city. Newport Beach-based Probolsky Research specializes in opinion research, with government, corporate and political practice areas. The poll was conducted October 6 – October 7, 2010 with 325 likely Long Beach voters with a +/- 5.4 margin of error. Likely November 2010 Long Beach voters included those who voted in any of the November 2008, May 2009, June 2010 elections and voted at least in three of the November 2006, February 2008, June 2008, November 2008, May 2009 and June 2010 elections or if they registered after February 2008 and voted in any of the June 2008, May 2009, and June 2010 elections or registered after November 2008 and voted in either the May 2009 or June 2010 elections or registered after June 2010.