Iowans approve of performance of governor, U.S. senators

DES MOINES - Iowans generally are upbeat about the state's prospects for the next four years and give favorable marks to their Republican governor and U.S. senators, according to results of a Quinnipiac University Poll released Tuesday.

The poll measured voter attitudes in Iowa, Colorado and Virginia - three swing states considered to be critical in the upcoming 2016 presidential election cycle.

'An improving economy nationally seems to be helping the political climate even in the dead of a very cold winter,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. 'Incumbent governors are getting good grades from these electorates. Voters in Colorado, Iowa and Virginia are optimistic about the future.”

The 1,089 Iowa voters surveyed from Feb. 5-15 gave six-term Gov. Terry Branstad a 59 percent approval rating, while 31 percent disapproved of the job he is doing in the poll that had a 3 percent margin of error. The poll numbers were the result of live interviews made via landline and cellular telephones, according to the poll administrator.

Two-thirds of the Iowa poll respondents said they generally were optimistic about the next four years with Branstad at the helm of state government, while 24 percent reported pessimism.

First-term U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Red Oak, who has been on the job nearly two months, got a 42 percent approval rating from Iowa voters, while 26 percent disapproved. Men approved of the job she is doing by a 45 percent to 25 percent margin, while the rating among women was 40 percent approval and 27 percent disapproval.

'U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, who took Iowa and conservatives nationally by storm in the 2014 balloting, is getting good approval numbers for a first-timer,” Brown said. 'Iowa seems to be an incumbent's happy place these days as Gov. Terry Branstad and Sen. Chuck Grassley - who is a big favorite for re-election - find themselves in strong shape with the voting public.”

Iowa voters who were surveyed gave Grassley a 67 percent approval rating with 21 percent disapproving, and 55 percent indicated the New Hartford Republican should be re-elected in 2016 to a post he has held since 1981. He has indicated he plans to seek another six-year term next year.

Support for Grassley's re-election topped 50 percent among men and women, according to the Quinnipiac University Poll. He gets backing 72 percent to 15 percent among Republicans and 58 percent to 28 percent among Iowa independents, Democrats by a 48 percent to 39 percent margin say the 81-year-old incumbent should not be returned to Washington in 2016.

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