A new poll released on Thursday shows voter support for Gov. Mike Pence (R) in a free fall after the national uproar over Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The survey found that 46 percent of Hoosiers now disapprove of Pence, the National Journal reported. The marks reflect a roughly 20-point drop from polling conducted earlier in the year.
Though 45 percent still approve of him, it added, the polling agency behind the sampling believes its results are bad news for the governor going forward.
“In the 20 years that HPI has been publishing … an Indiana governor has never experienced this type of survey decline in this short time frame,” said Howey Politics editor Brian Howey.
Howey additionally called the backlash against Pence “significant, if not historic.” Howey Politics published the poll Thursday after partnering with a GOP-affiliated research firm.
The survey noticed a glaring change in Pence’s popularity after the act’s creation late last month.
A January survey from Public Opinion Strategies, for example, showed Pence earning a 66 percent approval rating.
Another poll conducted in February by the Indiana Association of Realtors, meanwhile, found the governor commanded a 62 percent approval rating.
Howey Politics’s study also found Hoosiers had concerns over Pence’s law statewide. It found that 50 percent believed the legislation would hurt Indiana financially, even when it was no longer in the news.
Another 59 percent, the poll found, believed the law was unnecessary. A 54 percent majority of voters, it added, would support adding legal protections against discrimination allegedly authorized by its details.
Pence, a potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate, authorized the legislation’s initial language on March 26. It immediately sparked national protests from those saying the law protected business discrimination based on gender and sexual identity.
Business, celebrity and government (Connecticut, New York) boycotts soon forced alterations to the legislation. Pence approved changes addressing criticisms of the law on April 2.
Critics worried the Religious Freedom Restoration Act permitted business discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals on religious grounds.
Its advocates countered that it shielded business owners from government meddling in their faith-based decisions.
Howey Politics conducted the poll with Bellwether Research from April 12-14. It surveyed 607 registered voters in Indiana with a 4-point margin of error.
