Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's job approval rating has fallen to a record low, matching that of former Gov. Gray Davis from 2003, the year he was recalled, according to a Field Poll released today.
Registered voters held an even dimmer view of the job state lawmakers are doing. Though the Legislature's job approval rating ticked up three points from March, it remained a dismal 16 percent, according to the poll.
With the state mired in yet another budget crisis, just 22 percent of registered voters approve of the way Schwarzenegger is doing his job, down a point from March, according to the poll. Seventy percent of voters disapprove and 8 percent have no opinion, the poll found.
The governor's rating is exactly what his predecessor's was in August 2003, two months before he was ousted and replaced with Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger and Davis now share the lowest marks for a sitting governor since the Field Poll started tracking their job performance ratings in 1959.
The shared record, said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo, is "somewhat ironic for this governor, given that he was brought into office by that recall."
Schwarzenegger, who was catapulted to the Capitol by his movie-star status and his promise to reform Sacramento, scored his highest approval ratings, of 65 percent, in 2004. But his ratings have remained below 40 percent since September 2008 and below 30 percent since October.
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