Voters Like Locke Job Performance

A majority of Washington state voters like the way Gov. Gary Locke is doing his job in his first six months in office, a poll indicates.

Fifty-two percent of the respondents in the Elway Research poll said Locke, a Democrat, is doing an excellent or good job. That compares favorably with the first six months of Locke’s predecessor, Democrat Mike Lowry, who was viewed positively by 31 percent of voters in a June 1993 poll.

Locke is also viewed much more favorably than the Republican-controlled Legislature, which got excellent or good ratings from 30 percent of the voters.

Locke was viewed most positively by voters in Western Washington but outside King County. His lowest ratings were in the Spokane area.

The Elway poll is based on interviews of 400 voters conducted June 20-21. The margin of error is 5 percentage points. The poll is not affiliated with any political party.