NEW ORLEANS – An Eyewitness News poll shows President Obama, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten and District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro enjoy a high level of support from New Orleans voters while Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Chief Warren Riley don’t fare nearly as well.
The poll asked a scientific sample of city voters if they approved of the job being done by public figures.
President Obama scored a 74 percent approval rating with 22 percent disapproving of his performance.
Pollster Ron Faucheux said those numbers should come as no surprise since Obama took 79 percent of the vote in Orleans.
Obama’s approval differed greatly on racial lines with 96 percent of African-Americans giving him good marks and only 45 percent of white voters.
“He has nearly unanimous approval ratings among African-American voters in New Orleans as well around the country,” said Faucheux.
The lowest approval rating in the poll went to Mayor Ray Nagin with 74 percent saying they disapprove and only 20 percent approving.
Only five percent of white voters seemed satisfied with Nagin’s performance, while 31 percent of black voters approved of the job he’s doing.
“A 20 percent approval rating is a dismal rating,” said Faucheux. Usually anytime somebody goes below 30 percent it is considered a disaster, so to be at 20 percent like that is very weak – and it’s across the board.”
The New Orleans City Council gets a job approval rating of 54 percent from voters the poll questioned by phone last Wednesday through Sunday.
“Usually legislative bodies, whether it’s the state legislature or congress or a city council, usually they poll much worse than the individuals in them,” said Faucheux. “In this case, they’re still getting a solid majority of the people in the city saying they’re doing a good job, so that’s a good sign for incumbents.”
Governor Bobby Jindal also gets a higher disapproval at 49 percent than an approval rating, which is at 42 percent, but Faucheux said that isn’t necessarily bad.
“In the governor’s election in Orleans Parish, he only received about 35 percent of the vote, so he’s now polling at an approval of about seven points higher than the vote he received when he was elected statewide,” said Faucheux.
As for NOPD Superintendent Warren Riley, more voters – 47 percent – said they disapproved than those who approved, which was 41 percent.
“I think it says they’re very concerned about the crime issue and don’t feel like it’s being addressed right now,” said Faucheux.
Two of the highest approval ratings came for U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, who had a 72 percent positive rating and Leon Cannizzaro, who had a 70 percent approval mark.
Their support was strong among both races.
“What it underscores is the fact that people in New Orleans are very concerned about violent crime,” said Faucheux. “They’re also concerned about political corruption and the fact that they see both of these prosecutors on the right side of these issues.”
