Bob Moore, pollster for Idaho Gov. Butch Otter’s campaign and head of Portland-based Moore Information, says his firm ran a recent poll just on its own, tacking questions about Otter’s job approval onto another survey his company was conducting in Idaho in late November. The result: 65 percent of respondents said they approved of the job Otter is doing as governor, while 19 percent disapproved and 17 percent had no opinion. “Those numbers are very impressive,” Moore said. “If you stack ‘em up against other governors around the country, he would be certainly in the upper levels.” Otter was elected in 2006 with 53 percent of the vote.

The last SurveyUSA automated tracking poll found Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire with 47 percent approval and an equal 47 percent disapproval in mid-November, down from a 53 percent approval in October. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger got 56 percent approval in SurveyUSA’s November poll, and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski got 45 percent; Idaho wasn’t polled.

Moore’s poll showed Otter with 78 percent job approval among Republicans, 40 percent among Democrats and 68 percent among independents. Moore said no one in Otter’s office knew he was running the poll, which queried a sample of 400 registered voters statewide, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent. “They’re very pleased,” he said.

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