Gov. Josh Shapiro continues to enjoy the support of a majority of Pennsylvania voters as he nears the end of his first year in office but his approval rating is beginning to show signs of weakening, according to a statewide poll released on Tuesday.

The poll released by the Commonwealth Foundation finds 56% of voters give the Democratic governor a strong or somewhat strong approval rating, while three in 10 expressed disapproval of his job performance. His approval rating is down from 61% he received in this poll’s last quarter results.

“Governor Shapiro entered office touting bold promises and a commitment to bipartisanship, and as a result, enjoyed a honeymoon period with healthy support across the commonwealth. But as his first year as governor winds down, voters are taking stock of where the rhetoric matches the results, and public sentiment is shifting,” said Erik Telford, senior vice president of public affairs at the conservative policy center.

“Voters are increasingly ambivalent, with 61% either unsure about Shapiro’s major accomplishments or believing he hasn’t delivered any yet. Despite a 56% approval rating, there has been a 5-point decline since September, marking the first downward trend in his approval this year.”

The “Common Ground in the Commonwealth” quarterly poll found respondents considered the expedited reopening of the collapsed section of I-95 Shapiro’s major accomplishment. That was followed by his stance on the economy and jobs, being “for the people,” and strengthening the voting system including the implementation of automatic voter registration.

Shapiro cruised to victory last year beating Republican Doug Mastriano by 15 percentage points. Since taking office last January, his administration has weathered a few storms from a sexual harassment claim made against a top staffer in his office, to breaking with his party to support a limited taxpayer-funded private school scholarship program only to end up vetoing funding for one to get House Democrats to pass a partial state budget, to complaints about a lack of transparency in his administration.

Still, his popularity hasn’t been dinged too much in voters’ eyes. Two other recent polls confirm Shapiro’s favorability rating enjoys majority or near-majority support of voters.

A Franklin & Marshall College Poll released in October showed the governor received a 49% “excellent” or “good” job approval rating, which it said was the highest approval rating for a governor at this point in a first term since Gov. Tom Ridge. Some 24% of voters in that poll ranked him as fair and 18% as poor.

A Quinnipiac University poll that same month showed Shapiro had a 53% approval rating while 27% disapproved and 19% had no opinion.

The conservative-leaning Commonwealth Foundation’s poll of 800 registered voters was conducted Dec. 8 to 12. It had a plus or minus 3.5% margin of error. Other highlights from its just-released poll include:

  • Inflation, crime and rising violence and the state economy in general rank as the three most important problems facing the state.
  • Democratic incumbent U.S. Senate candidate Bob Casey maintains a lead over Republican challenger David McCormick with 42% of voters saying Casey would get their support if the election was held today while McCormick had just 27% of voters in his corner. However 20% remained unsure who they would vote for and 11% said neither would get their vote.
  • As for the presidency, 41% indicated they would vote for Republican Donald Trump while 34% said they would support Democratic incumbent Joe Biden. Interestingly, though, 47% said they would refuse to vote for Trump in the general election while 46% said the same about Biden.
  • On an issue that draws strong support from the Commonwealth Foundation, the poll found 51% say Shapiro should support bipartisan-backed legislation establishing taxpayer-funded scholarships for low-income students in the worst performing schools to help pay tuition at another school while just 23% say he should oppose it and 25% are unsure.
  • Another education-related question asked if costs were no concern, what type of school would you send your child to. Fifty-five percent indicated a private school (33% for a non-religious school and 22% for a religious school); 18% chose a district school, 7% each went for homeschooling or a charter school and 3% indicated a cyber school or remote learning.
  • Regarding mass transit, 35% support using $300 million in the state’s 6% sales tax to bail out mass transit systems in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia while 54% opposed and 12% were unsure.
  • Some holiday-themed questions found 63% reported engaging in charitable giving over the holidays while a third said they do not. As for the rest of respondents’ holiday budgets, 45% anticipated spending less this year on their gift-buying than in previous years, while 43% anticipated spending about the same and 12% expected to spend more.