Poll says approval rating still low

CARSON CITY -- Eight months into his first term, Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons faces an overall approval rating of 33 percent in a new Reno Gazette-Journal poll.

The poll of 600 likely voters showed that 49 percent of those surveyed conducted for the paper by Research 2000 disapproved of the job the first term Republican governor is doing.

Democrats gave Gibbons the poorest marks in the Aug. 14-16 survey. Eighteen percent of the Democrats approved of his job performance while 74 percent disapproved.

The poll, which has a margin of error of plus of minus 4 percentage points, showed that 51 percent of Republicans surveyed approved of his performance and that 27 percent of independents approved.

The Gazette-Journal poll results are similar to the 28 percent approval rating in a Las Vegas Review-Journal survey and the 30 percent rating in a previous Gazette-Journal poll. Both of those surveys were taken last spring.

Gibbons spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin said that poll numbers tend to fluctuate and that "a different firm could go out into the field tomorrow and come back with a completely different set of numbers."

Subbotin added that Gibbons "has proven that he's committed to holding firm on the priorities outlined in his State of the State address, and as we continue to develop policies for the next session, people will realize that he's committed to doing what's best for the state."

Gibbons has said he got "just about everything" he asked for during the 2007 legislative session, including his goal of no new taxes. But he has been the target of an FBI and grand jury investigation into whether he misused his influence while in Congress.

Warren Trepp, a friend of Gibbons, has been accused of giving money and a Caribbean cruise to Gibbons for his help in acquiring defense contracts for his eTreppid Technologies company.

The allegations were made by former eTreppid software designer Dennis Montgomery. Trepp and Gibbons have denied any wrongdoing.