Approval Rating Positive for Pritzker, Not So Much for Direction of State

By Jeremy Coumbes on October 7, 2019 at 10:40am

Governor JB Pritzker maintains a positive approval rating, despite overall dissatisfaction with the direction the State of Illinois is headed, according to recent polling numbers.

In a recent survey conducted by NPR Illinois and the University of Illinois at Springfield, 77% of respondents listed the economy in Illinois as fair or poor, with 3 out of every 5 people surveyed saying that they have considered moving to another state.

However the majority of those polled gave a differing view of the Governor’s job performance, with 59% of respondents approving of Pritzker’s work during his first term in office.

Pritzker had a positive approval rating in all age groups, and showed the most popularity with young people, racial minorities and residents of Cook County.

The respondents who said that they had considered moving to another state were asked to choose up to three reasons for leaving. 27% listed lower state taxes, 17% said government and policies, and 15% said better weather.

Lower crime, familial or personal reasons and better schools were also listed, while only 12% listed better job opportunities as a reason they considered leaving the state.

Of the 61% who said they considered leaving, 16% looked at new jobs in another state with only 5% actually applying. 26% looked into new housing, while 2% applied for housing.

The top listed destination states by those surveyed were Florida, Indiana, Texas, Arizona, California and Tennessee.