U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s approval rating has fallen once again.
The most recent SurveyUSA poll, conducted May 11-13, found that 52 percent of New Mexicans approve and 42 percent disapprove of the job the republican is doing. It’s the lowest approval rating for the senator since at least May 2005.
The survey of 600 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.
By comparison, those surveyed gave U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., a 63 percent approval rating.
Bingaman’s approval was up from 60 percent in April. Domenici’s was down from 54 percent.
Last month, support for Domenici among democrats fell below 50 percent – to 49 percent – for the first time in the poll’s history. This month it fell again, to 39 percent. That’s significant because it should give the Democratic Party of New Mexico hope that it can find a strong challenger to take on the senator next year.
In the last month, Domenici’s support among republicans has fallen from 74 percent to 71 percent, but his support among independents has risen from 38 percent to 41 percent.
The company’s February survey, the last conducted before the
There’s still an ongoing inquiry by the Senate Ethics Committee into whether Domenici violated Senate rules in calling former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias in October to inquire about an ongoing public corruption probe. His approval rating might continue to drop.
Two lesser-known democrats are running against Domenici next year, but the party has yet to find a prominent candidate.