Polling: Bentley's Support is Strong Among Key Conservative Groups

With the 2012 election cycle behind us, we took our first look yesterday at the trend of Governor Bentley’s approval numbers over the first two years of his term. There are less than five months before the 2014 election cycle begins with the opening of the fundraising window in June. But with the Governor’s sky-high popularity, it’s no surprise that at this point he has no known opponent.

In addition to having spent the last two years making strong allies of Lt. Governor Kay Ivey, House Speaker Mike Hubbard and Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, Governor Bentley has continued to build his grassroots network among Republicans and the larger group of ideological conservatives across the state.

The genesis of the Governor’s grassroots network came during the 2010 gubernatorial primary when the Bentley campaign had to organize a dedicated network of volunteers for the recount against fellow GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim James. One interesting tidbit is that current ALGOP Chairman Bill Armistead was actually part of Tim James’ network during the 2010 recount. Since Armistead’s election to the ALGOP chairmanship, the Bentley team has had to continue carrying the load with local Party leadership and grassroots supporters and activists. It is no secret to GOP movers and shakers in the field that much of the reason for Bentley’s insistence on a new Party Chair is his team’s frustration with the lack of support from the State Party.

The real strength of the Governor’s network appears to be in is his relationship with Tea Party movers and shakers. The Tea Party remains extremely popular among the Alabama electorate and they will continue playing a huge role in deciding the state’s Republican primaries.

The Governor caught some heat from Tea Partiers over his support for Amendment 1 on Sept. 18, but he solidified most of their support moving forward with his promise to pay back the ATF and his refusal to set up the Obamacare-mandated healthcare exchange and his decision to not expand Medicaid.

It’s easy to see once you dig in to Bentley’s polling numbers among key subgroups that his focus on the grassroots has paid off in a major way. His favorable ratings are strongest among grassroots conservatives which are important subgroups for a Republican incumbent Governor in Alabama.

Here’s how Bentley’s approval numbers currently look among several of these key groups:

Republicans: 78%
Independents: 61%
Tea Party supporters: 75%
Self-identified conservatives: 74%

The Governor’s unfavorable rating among each of these groups is in the single digits or non-existent.

Even in a time when the political environment is not favorable to incumbents, the Alabama electorate remains strongly supportive of their sitting Governor.