While Gov. Nathan Deal has caught some heat for vetoing "religious liberty" and campus carry legislation, his approval ratings are up a little since the start of the year, according to a new, exclusive Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll.
About 52 percent of registered voters polled by the AJC this week said they approved of Deal’s performance, up from 50 percent at the beginning of January, just before the 2016 General Assembly session.
About 33 percent disapproved of the Republican governor’s performance, and 15 percent didn’t have an opinion. Deal’s approval rating was 51 percent among Democrats and 58 percent among Republicans.
But, the survey found serious cracks in Deal's Republican base. GOP approval for the governor has fallen from 73 percent in January. Obviously, Democratic support has grown from 38 percent to 51 percent.
The new poll from the AJC gave Georgia voters their say on the latest political developments, including their thoughts on presidential contenders Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. They also weighed in on Deal's decision to veto the "religious liberty" legislation championed by opponents to same-sex marriage and a bill that would have allowed college students to carry guns on campus. Find the results only on myAJC, with updated stories throughout the weekend on our myAJC Politics page.
About the poll: It was conducted Monday through Thursday of this week by Abt SRBI. It includes surveys of 746 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.26 percentage points.
And here's a closer look at the arc of Deal's approval ratings:
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