The poll found that 67 percent rated Baucus' job performance as positive, the identical figure as in Lee polls in December and June 2007. Baucus is running this year for his sixth straight six-year Senate term.
Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer's positive job performance score was at 57 percent, followed by Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg at 56 percent and Democratic Sen. Jon Tester at 52 percent. All of their positive marks have dropped in recent polls.
Montanans gave the worst positive job approval grade to Congress, with only 11 percent rating it as positive. That's down from 19 percent in December.
The Lee poll, done by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. of Washington, D.C., interviewed 625 registered Montana voters who said they vote regularly in elections. The poll, done from May 19-21, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Mason-Dixon has polled for the Lee Newspapers since 1990.
For these questions, the Lee poll asks people to rate the performance of a politician or institution and gives them four choices: excellent, pretty good, only fair and poor. The excellent and pretty good scores are combined to yield the positive job performance score.
Even 51 percent of Republicans give Baucus positive job performance scores, said Brad Coker, Mason-Dixon's managing director.
Twenty percent of voters gave Baucus “excellent” job performance scores, with 47 percent giving him “pretty good” rankings. Those numbers hold across gender lines. The poll found 88 percent of Democrats gave him positive marks, compared with 64 percent of independents and 51 percent of Republicans.
Schweitzer's positive score has dropped from 69 percent in May 2006, to 65 percent in December 2006, and from 64 percent in June 2007 to 61 percent in December 2007 in past Lee polls.
Still, Coker said Schweitzer's 57 percent positive “is pretty good, all things considered.” Schweitzer is running for re-election this year.
“That's pretty good for an incumbent right now,” Coker said. “Governors have it a little tougher than U.S. senators. They're more involved in the daily decisions of state government (that affect people).”
The poll showed 18 percent of Montana voters giving Schweitzer marks of “excellent” and 39 percent grades of “pretty good.” His approval scores were nearly identical with women and men. By party, 82 percent of Democrats gave him positive marks, compared with 61 percent of independents and 30 percent of Republicans.
For Rehberg, his positive score has fallen from 68 percent in December 2006 Lee poll to 61 percent in June 2007 to 58 percent in December 2007. He is seeking his fifth consecutive two-year term in Congress.
“His job performance probably reflects the declining popularity of Republicans in Congress,” Coker said.
In the poll, 13 percent gave Rehberg ratings of “excellent” and 43 percent as “pretty good.” Men gave him slightly higher scores than women. By party, 76 percent of Republicans gave him positive marks, compared with 41 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of independents.
After Tester narrowly unseated Republican Sen. Conrad Burns in 2006, his job performance score rose from 46 percent in June 2007 to 55 percent in December 2007. It dropped to 52 percent this month.
Coker said the number of voters undecided about Tester is declining and his job performance scores reflect the sharp Democratic-Republican divide. Eighty-five percent of Democrats give Tester positive scores, compared with 24 percent of Republicans and 51 percent of independents.
The poll showed Tester getting 14 percent “excellent” ratings and 38 percent “pretty good” marks. Fifty-six percent of women and 48 percent of men gave him positive approval scores. Tester isn't up for re-election until 2012.
As for Bush, 7 percent said he was doing an “excellent” job and 29 percent “pretty good.” Scores from men and women were nearly identical. By party, 70 percent of Republicans gave him positive job approval ratings, compared with positive scores of 7 percent from Democrats and 28 percent from independents.
No one gave Congress a score of “excellent” while 11 percent said it was doing a “pretty good” job. Eleven percent of men, women and Democrats all gave Congress positive scores, while Republicans rated it at 13 percent positive and independents at 9 percent.
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