The man leading the recall effort of Louisiana Speaker of the House Jim Tucker following his leadership role in the recent legislative pay raise says a survey shows voters are still extremely upset.

West bank resident John Roberts said the survey showed that 83 percent of those surveyed in Tucker’s district disapprove of the pay raise and 59 percent would be willing to sign a petition to force a recall vote on him.

Roberts paid a Florida Company, Cherry Communications, to do a poll of Tucker’s District.  Here are the results:

QUESTION 1

The state legislature recently voted to more than double their total pay to over $50,000 per year.  Do you approve or disapprove of this pay raise?

1=Approve                               36            10.17%

2=Disapprove                          293           82.77%

3=Unsure/No Opinion             25             7.06%

4=Refused                                 0              0

QUESTION 2

House Speaker Jim Tucker, from your district, led the fight for this pay increase and also had his total compensation as speaker raised to nearly $100,000 per year.  Would you sign a petition to force a recall election of Representative Tucker?

1=Yes                                      208          58.76%

2=No                                       95            26.84%

3=Undecided                           51            14.41%

4=Refused                               0              0%

                                               354          100%

Roberts said the poll was done to establish that there is much outrage in the district.

Tucker may be unpopular with some constituents, but he’s got strong support with colleagues in Baton Rouge on both sides of the aisle.  Many lawmakers say he’s maneuvered through a difficult political process better than any house speaker in recent memory.

“Judge a legislator on totality of what they’ve done,” Westbank Democratic State Representative Jeff Arnold says.  “Speaker Tucker has seven years of voting in the legislature.  And Mr. Roberts wants to judge him on this one vote.”

But many Louisiana residents are judging the legislature and governor on this one vote.  It’s pushed attorney Steve Sabludowsky, who publishes a political website, to schedule a rally for July 7 on the steps of the State Capitol.

“I think the government should understand that this recall petitions and this rally is a cry from the people saying, Mr. Government, you are not working,” he said.

Eyewitness News Political Analyst, Clancy Dubos says it’s an issue that has likely put a dent in the approval rating of most elected officials in Baton Rouge, starting with the governor.

“I think his approval rating has suffered because of this,” Dubos says.  “But he was 70% voter approval before this and he’s probably somewhere in the 50’s.  That’s still ok for a governor.  The legislature was probably around 25% to 30%.  And now they are in the teens.

But less than two weeks before Jindal can still veto the pay raise bill, DuBos says it’s still unlikely to happen, unless that rally attracts huge numbers of people to Baton Rouge

“If they get 500 or 1,000 people then that’s a dud,” DuBos says.  “If they get 10 or 15,000 people then the governor might take note.