Californians Down on Their Congressional Leaders

By Emily Cadei | October 19, 2009 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Approval ratings for California's three political leading ladies have sunk, according to a Field Poll of registered voters conducted Sept. 18 to Oct. 5.

California voters' opinions of the job performance of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who represents California's 8th District, and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are at their lowest levels in the past two years.

Pelosi, who has become a poster child for liberal Democrats and the focus of constant GOP attack, has the lowest approval ratings of the three -- 34 percent to 44 percent disapproval. Twenty-two percent had no opinion. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percent.

Boxer, a third-term Democrat who is up for re-election in 2010, maintains a higher approval than disapproval rating, 44 percent to 37 percent. But that represents a drop from 48 percent approval in the May 2008 Field Poll.

Feinstein remains the most popular of the three Democratic lawmakers, but even her ratings have taken a hit this year. Forty-six percent now approve of her job performance while 33 percent disapprove. That's down from 48 percent in May 2008. And before 2008, Feinstein's approval had not dropped below 50 percent since 2003. She won a third full term in 2006, after entering the Senate via a 1992 special election.

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