Zinke sees 7 point drop in job approval after announcing plans to alter national monuments

The Western Values Project released the results of a new poll showing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s popularity falling in his home state of Montana. The survey, conducted just after his recommendation to shrink national monuments was released, shows Zinke with a -10 job approval rating, down 7 percent since July. The poll surveyed 502 Montana registered voters from August 25-29.

Click here for poll results.

Click here to compare with polling from July.

“The details of Secretary Zinke’s plan may be murky, but one thing is clear – the more Montanans learn about his proposal to shrink national monuments, the less they like it,” said Chris Saeger, Executive Director of the Western Values Project. “Access to public lands is essential to our economy and way of life in the West, and Secretary Zinke’s short-sighted actions are putting that at risk. Zinke may have forgotten his Montana values, but Montanans will not forget the choices he is making to hand over our public lands.”

Western Values Project is continuing a six-figure television and digital ad campaign targeting Zinke in his home state of Montana. Many other groups have also launched public education campaigns to hold the Secretary accountable for threatening access to public lands.

“If Secretary Zinke thinks he can bury a decision to gut national monuments and put this issue to bed then he is dead wrong,” added Saeger. “We will not stop holding him accountable for these irresponsible decisions until he gets on the side of the West and says ‘no’ to the special interests in Washington, D.C. asking him to hand over public lands.”

• Zinke’s ratings have fallen since he announced his recommendations to shrink some national monuments: Zinke’s favorability has taken a net 5 point hit since July (47% fav/37% unfav now; down from 49% fav/34% unfav in July). Zinke’s job approval has also dropped to a -10 positive rating (38% positive/48% negative now; from 38% positive/ 41% negative in July).
• Zinke’s personal attributes have also taken a hit: Voters are less likely to describe Zinke as honest (30% very well now; 35% in July) and someone who understands Montana (29% very well now; 37% in July), while more voters say he has lost touch with Montana (25% very well now; 21% in July).
• The more voters learn about his proposal and its implications, the less favorable they become: Nearly a third (31%) of likely voters have heard about Zinke’s announcement last week. After learning the details of Zinke’s plans, 58% are opposed to the proposal and 55% are less favorable to Zinke–with 40% who are “much less” favorable to him.