New Poll Shows Latinos' Approval Ratings Drop for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
New York City Mayor's Bill de Blasio received 85 percent of the Latino vote in his election, but his stock among Latino voters is starting to plummet, according to new poll figures.
While Latinos account for 29 percent of the city's population and one of its growing minorities, there has been growing disaffection that came to a head when research by National Institute of Latino Policy showed de Blasio's appointments of Latinos to senior administrative positions is only 11 percent.
That revelation could be one of the reasons contributing to de Blasio's falling approval rating among Latinos in the latest Quinnipiac poll.
"Whats sort of marks does the mayor get for this first year in City Hall? ...[O]n leadership, good grades on honesty and on caring for the problems of his fellow New Yorker," said Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
The poll showed approval over de Blasio's job performance in his first year slipped from for 56 percent in November to 47 percent among Latinos. The same question received a 34 percent approval from whites, but a 70 percent approval from blacks.
The drop could be attributed to the National Institute of Latino Policy's Campaign for Fair Latino Representation that has been critical of the Mayor's low rates of appointing Latinos to senior positions in his administration or in city agencies.
The poll surveyed 1,374 voting New Yorkers from Dec. 10-16 during live interviews to land lines and cell phones.
Latino voters registered dissatisfaction with life in New York City. The majority of New Yorkers, 54 percent, are dissatisfied, and of that group, 62 percent of Latinos were more dissatisfied compared to 51 percent of blacks and 55 percent of whites. Of the 62 percent of Latinos, 30 percent thought it was very poor, compared to 25 percent of black and 11 percent of whites.
Under Latino-Police relations and the very public reaction and protest to the death of Eric Garner, along with the failure of the grand jury to hand down an indictment to the police officer involved and the police brutality cases in Sunset Park, a large majority of Latinos, 58 percent, disapprove of the way the Mayor is handling police-community relations. The majority (53 percent) of Latinos also disapprove of his handling the police department in general, and less than a majority, 46 percent, approve of the way the Mayor is handling crime.
"Police-community relations is the issue that defined Mayor Bill de Blasio's election bid and seems to be-devil his first year in office," Carroll said. "Black voters are slightly positive on how he's handling the issue, while white and Latino voters give him a big thumbs down."
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