NEW ORLEANS — The number of voters saying they disapprove of the job that New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is doing has jumped dramatically from two years ago, though she is still approved by more voters than oppose her, according to a recent survey conducted by veteran pollsters Dr. Edward Chervenak of Edgewater Research and Tony Licciardi of My People Vote.
The survey was taken last week amid the city’s controversy with firefighters and on the heels of reports of the mayor’s unpaid taxes and continued frustration over the Hard Rock hotel construction site collapse.
While the survey of more than 400 voters in the city showed Cantrell with a 53% approval mark, that was down from a 57% mark received in the University of New Orleans Quality of Life survey in 2018. 42% of the respondents said they disapproved of her performance as mayor and 5% were undecided.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6%.
One of the most notable changes in the survey from 2020 vs. the one from 2018, is that in 2018 only 17% of voters disapproved of her performance, while this year that number is 42%. Undecided in 2018 numbered 26% but only 5% now say they don’t know what to think of her as mayor.
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The numbers also break down along racial lines with black respondents more likely to approve of Cantrell’s job performance (65%) vs. only 36% approval among white voters.
Men were also more likely to approve of Cantrell (58%) than women (49%).
Democrats also were more favorable, with 63% approving of her job performance so far vs. 30% of Republicans.
When the question was asked whether voters would cast their vote for Cantrell in a re-election bid, the numbers changed only slightly. Only 50% said they were likely to vote for re-election and 44% said they would not.
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