Republican Gov. Bill Haslam speaks to reporters at the state Capitol in Nashville on Wednesday, Feb. 4., 2015, after the GOP-controlled Legislature defeated his Insure Tennessee proposal to extend health coverage to 280,000 low-income Tennesseans.NASHVILLE - New statewide poll figures show Tennesseans rate their state government leaders better than their political leaders in the federal government.
Gov. Bill Haslam has a 64 percent approval rating, a 17-point increase from a year ago, according to a Middle Tennessee State University poll released today.
However, Tennesseans were not as satisfied with the performance of the General Assembly, the poll showed. Forty-nine percent approve of the job state legislators are doing, with 25 percent disapproving.
The poll surveyed 600 adult residents between Jan. 25-27 and has a margin of error of four percentage points, according to an MTSU news release.
Poll results were reviewed at a meeting of the Tennessee Press Association.
Tennesseans' views of the job performance of President Barack Obama and Congress were not as positive.
Only 37 percent of poll respondents approve of Obama's performance; 52 percent disapprove, figures that have remained relatively stable over the last several years.
Congress fares much worse: 70 percent disapprove of how Congress is handling its job while only 15 percent of Tennesseans approve.
Yet poll respondents viewed the state's U.S. senators - Republicans Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker - more favorably.
Forty-seven percent approve of Alexander's job performance while 32 percent disapprove. Forty-four percent approve of Corker's job performance while 27 disapprove.