Sen. Jeff Flake has seen his approval numbers plummet in the wake of his vote against legislation that would have required background on firearm sales at gun shows, online marketplaces and other advertised transactions, according to a new poll released today.
Public Policy Polling released a survey today that shows:
After just 3 months in office Jeff Flake has already become one of the most unpopular Senators in the country. Just 32% of voters approve of him to 51% who disapprove and that -19 net approval rating makes him the most unpopular sitting Senator we’ve polled on, taking that label from Mitch McConnell.
70% of Arizona voters support background checks to only 26% who are opposed to them. That includes 92/6 favor from Democrats, 71/24 from independents, and 50/44 from Republicans. 52% of voters say they’re less likely to support Flake in a future election because of this vote, compared to only 19% who say they’re more likely to. Additionally voters say by a 21 point margin, 45/24, that they trust senior colleague John McCain more than Flake when it comes to gun issues.
Flake’s press secretary, Genevieve Rozansky, suggested that Public Policy Polling’s surveys were less than trustworthy.
“If early PPP polls were accurate, Senator Flake wouldn’t be in office right now,” Rozansky said via email.
Flake has done something of a dance on the question of background checks. He generally tells the press and public that he supports strengthening the background-check system, but his support is for changing laws to place more mentally ill people who pose a danger to themselves or others on the list.
Earlier this month, he voted against the Manchin-Toomey amendment that would have extended background checks to sales at gun shows and on the Internet (as well as any other advertised transactions). In an interview before the vote, he said the proposal would have created too much paperwork.
In the wake of that vote, he got particular criticism for sending a handwritten letter to the mother of a young man killed in the Colorado movie-theater massacre saying that “While we may not agree on every solution, strengthening background checks is something we agree on.”
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2013.
He Voted FOR Obama’s background falsehood, that’s why his rating has gone down!
Hey, no yelling in here.
“Flake’s Ratings Take a Dive in Wake of Background-Check Vote”
Wow, what a shocker. I guess, “That’s the beauty of a six year term.”
“Background falsehood?” Can’t you guys ever get over this birth certificate business?
background falsehood = background check
close the gun show loophole.
We will be working to vote this man out of office. It was a tragedy that he was elected in the first place. Now, finally, Arizonans are seeing him as who he really is instead of the glossy, 8×10 color picture with the big smile and gorgeous family. Yes, he’s had great dental care and has a nice family, but who he is and what he stands for, underneath “the pretty” really isn’t pretty at all.
Get real, Jim Nintzel, Jeff Flakes approval ratings started into the toilet because he allowed himself to get sucked into that stupid “Gang of Eight” with their insane “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” BS.
Senator Flake did the Correct thing in helping to stop S.649, it was a TERRIBLE Bill. While Not doing ANYTHING to prevent the tragedies which spawned it, S.649 WOULD have made Me a Federal Felon for
handing my friends Grandson, my gun, to shoot on MY property….Pure Horse Biscuits!
When Flake was still in the house he sponsored an NRA bill that would require an act of Congress to authorize halting recreational shooting on sensitive areas of public land. That was the NRA’s and Flake’s response to recreational shooters mowing down giant saguaro cacti in the Ironwood National Monument, when the BLM proposed closure of the Ironwood to willy nilly shooting. Flake is the NRA’s lackey and is another of Arizona’s unfortunate choices in politicians. I donated to Richard Carmona’s campaign and I also have to Gabby Gifford’s and Mark Kelly’s group that supported background checks, among other very good gun laws. I love Arizona and hope Flake’s drop in the polls signals a shift in Arizona politics similar to the recall of Russell Pearce.
Even if Flake loses his job come election time, he’ll still be better off than the thousands of people who will die needlessly between now and then. The gun lobby has seen to that.
Ricardo…If you had carefully read S.649, it WAS a Terrible bill…Cannot had someone your gun to shoot, on your own property…Come on that’s just DUMB!
Sen Flake did the right thing. And we do not care what National polls say. Those people do not vote in Arizona, and Sen Flake represents us, not them.
And, it was a bad Bill anyway. Bad legislation often happens as a result of a bad event, because politicians want to convince the gullible public that they are doing something.
S.649 wasn’t perfect. It was a compromise, so of course neither side would be perfectly happy with it. But at least it was something.
SHAME ON YOU CONGRESS, FOR NOT PASSING IT
I blame the NRA. They have been extorting votes from congress with the threat of running NRA clones in the districts of anyone who votes against their will. Oh yeah, and then there’s the money ..
(sorry, I’m not yelling – I’m beating my head against the wall)
So funny to blame Senator Flake’s drop in the polls all on this gun issue. Voters do not have such tunnel vision…at least most don’t. When Flake jumped on broad of this “amnesty bill” I’m sure he dropped faster than a illegal alien can run.
70% of Arizona voters support background checks to only 26% who are opposed to them. That is a lie, a poll manipulation as dishonest as the Bill the poll supports! This whole fiasco is one lie after another. The fact is we have background checks; they don’t stop criminals, especially the criminals who commit mass murder. Not one of those supporting the “background check” Bill would make the claim that this new Law would have prevented any one of the tragedies but you all used those tragedies to sell this new law? That is dishonest.
Now I know you think you are paying homage to Gabby but shouldn’t a real tribute be something that would address the crime that befell her? Isn’t politics as usual trying to placate the ginned up “mob” really an insult? It is to me. We know that the weapons used to perform mass murder are all different, from a semi-automatic weapon to farm fertilizer; the common denominator is that they were all mentally ill! Now I know you on the left that are pushing this misguided effort to stop gun murder do not want to bring attention to the mentally ill, because they make up quite a large percentage of your voting power but understand that focusing your gunophobia on those who have a statistical insignificance on what you are trying to accomplish is no more than going home after having a bad day and kicking the cat! The guns bought at gun shows are found in 1.9% of the gun crimes. That leaves after this Bill if the Bill had a 100% success in stopping that crime (the truth is the results would be closer to 0%) that would still leave 98% of the problem untouched. Now put this in you pipe and smoke it, that 98% has the very same laws that this Bill is being sold to address, another law isn’t the answer folks, placing failed laws over 1.9% of the problem and selling that as a solution is dishonest! That is what Jeff Flake is saying. McCain is a player, he will sell his soul for politics but Flake won’t I find that refreshing, we should reward that CHANGE instead of politics as usual! McCain’s poll numbers has dropped also BECAUSE HE SUPPORTED THE BILL, the dishonest attempt to placate the mob who are demanding something be done, they obviously don’t care what just do something seems to be the mentality of this failed Bill’s supporters.
When doing something is WORSE than doing nothing why do we reward politicians for that effort? We need a Bill to start to PROFILE individuals for mental health issues that will lead to mass murders, the weapon is moot, and it is the mindset we need to expose!
Kudos to Jeff Flake for standing up and telling you all even though you won’t listen that this Bill was a farce and would do NOTHING to address the actual problem. We need politicians who will stand up for what is right and stare down what is wrong.
I want to pay homage to Gabby, but I say shame on her and her husband Mark Kelly for letting themselves be used to push a Bill that is not focused at all on the issue of mass murders but just playing to a lynch mob mentality ready to do “something” even if it in reality isn’t anything! SHAME ON ALL OF YOU that supported this Bill, we can do much better, it is not about the weapon of choice it is about profiling for the mind of a murderer, we can do it!
Bill Heath Local Business Owner
P.S. FACT: Democrat voting areas have a 650% HIGHER gun murder rate than Republican voting areas! Why? The answer to that question needs to be the focus of any new laws; we have a tale of two communities that has to be addressed!
The truth be told, Flake need the seven thousand plus dollars the NRA gave to these
nut-job that voted this Bill down.
Bill Heath – you’re in good company. Adam Gadahn also likes the fact that gun shows have no background checks.
@devmonkey
Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought an idiot, than to open it and remove all doubt.
There ARE background checks at gun shows and have been for years.
His unpopularity is not just from his pro-NRA vote. He is almost always on the wrong side of a vote. And when he is on the right side, it is for the wrong reasons. At least half of the state knew this at election time, and I suspect more knew it and voted for him because of it. A lot of people like the dysfunctional system we have because, like big corporations, they can get away with more questionable money-making activities.
All the voters really know is he supported the NRA and not the voters who elected him. So many Congress people and Senators switch to the Lobbyist to go for that Millionaire peak and forget who they really represent. It is well known that Jeff got over $300,000 from the NRA for supporting their views.
The voters will have a field day in 2014, defeating those law makers who think they can thumb their noses at the voters.
It is also well known, that the Republicans will vote NO on bills just to be against Obama. Republicans hate Obama because he is a black man the the people of the USA elected. Republicans hate that a black man is our President.
Sam, I think if you could see the truth you would soon realize that people hate Obama because he is unqualified to be a president, has destroyed America’s standing in the world community, destroyed one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and is basically a liar. People like you have to play the race card when your demigod proves to be worthless.