Gov. Wes Moore (D) testifoed to a legislative committee in 2024. A new poll shows the governor is still popular, although that popularity is slipping. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters)
Gov. Wes Moore’s job approval ratings remain above 50% but continued to slide in March, according to a poll released Wednesday.
The poll released Wednesday by Annapolis-based Gonzales Research & Media showed 55% of those surveyed said they approve Moore’s job performance, compared to 36% who disapproved, “a statistically significant decline” from January, said pollster Patrick Gonzales. In that poll, Gonzales found Moore had a 61% approval rating, while 28% disapproved and 11% gave no opinion.
The poll also asked voters for opinions on economic conditions in Maryland, concerns about the cost of energy, and the direction of the state. Voters were also asked to weigh in on the job performance of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.
Gonzales surveyed 804 registered voters who said they are likely to vote in the next election. The poll, conducted March 5-9, also asked voters about their willingness to pay more in taxes for education. The poll has a margin of error of 3.5%.
Results released Tuesday showed opposition to higher taxes to pay for mandated increases in public school spending.
In just two months, the difference between Moore’s favorable and unfavorable numbers has dropped more than 40%, from a 33-point gap between approval and disapproval to a 19-point difference.
Gonzales said Moore’s numbers may be dragged down by voter “malaise.” Those in his survey expressed dissatisfaction with the direction of the state, their overall financial situation and rising costs of energy.
“I think it is all part and parcel of that,” Gonzales said. “It’s all related.”
The January Gonzales survey also hinted at softening approval numbers for Moore that continue in the March survey.
“I don’t want to put words in people’s mouths, but I’d be concerned if I were on the second floor,” of the State House, where the governor’s offices are, Gonzales said.
The results of the Gonzales poll follow a survey last month by the Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County that showed Moore’s approval numbers, while still above 50%, had slipped since a poll taken three months earlier.
Economy, electric bills drive dissatisfaction
All in all, a majority of Marylanders in the poll expressed pessimism about their household finances, their electric bills and the direction of the state.
Five in 10 surveyed said the state is headed in the wrong direction compared to 41% that said the state was headed in the right direction.
Gonzales’ poll provides insight into what is driving that dissatisfaction.
More than 57% told the pollster they rated their family’s economic condition as fair or poor. Another nearly 37% said it was good. Just 5% rated their personal finances as excellent.
A plurality of Democrats — 45% — rated their situation as good. On the Republican side, nearly 46% said their personal situation was fair. Similarly, 49% of independents rated their own finances as fair.
One factor that might play into that rating is the sharply increasing costs of household energy.
Fifty-seven percent said their utility bill is “much higher” than a year ago. They were joined by more than 19% of people who said it was “somewhat higher” than a year ago. Another 19% said their bill remained roughly the same.
Those same voters surveyed expressed high levels of concern about the costs of utlities. Nearly 80% said they were very or somewhat concerned about their monthly bills. Only 21% said they were not concerned.
Those bills are likely to go up again when new rates kick in this summer.
Lawmakers are scrambling to find short- and long-term solutions to the cost of home energy. The General Assembly is set to hold a joint hearing Wednesday that will bring in executives from energy providers as well as the Public Service Commission to answer questions about the costs. Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) expressed some hope that lawmakers would use the hearing to find some immediate relief for Maryland residents.
Sugary tax support
Advocates for a so-called “sugary drink tax” also released private polling Tuesday showing that nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they would support such a tax if the money paid for free meals at schools or state child care subsidies.
The House Ways and Means Committee is currently considering a bill to levy a 2-cent-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages.
The questions on the sugary drinks tax were commissioned privately with Gonzales by the American Heart Association, which released those results to Maryland Matters.
As proposed, the bill imposes a tax on distributors of sweetened drinks. These include beverages with sugar or other sweeteners and sugar substitutes. The money from the tax — nearly $500 million — would be earmarked for free school meals and childcare.
The bill taxes drinks based on volume rather than sugar content. Taxes on drink powders and syrups are based on the total ounces of drink that each container could make.
Automatic annual increases in the bill are tied to inflation. In years when there is negative inflation, the tax rate would remain the same but not decrease. The proposal is similar to how the state calculates gas tax rates each year.
Business owners voiced their opposition to the proposal at a hearing last week.
Musk trumps president in low job approval
President Donald Trump remains consistently unpopular with Maryland voters, but he’s not the most disliked person in the new administration. That title falls to billionaire turned federal government ax-man Elon Musk.
More than 66% of those asked disapproved of Musk’s efforts. The rating cut across gender and race and age groups. Musk did find support among Republicans where more than seven in 10 said they support his efforts.
Trump remains unpopular in Maryland — a state that did not vote for the returning president.
Overall, nearly 62% of those surveyed said they disapproved of Trump’s efforts. The results roughly mirror Trump’s performance in Maryland in 2024 where he took 34% of the vote. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, picked up nearly 63% of the vote.