Schwarzenegger's Approval Rating Falls to New Low

(Bloomberg) -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's approval rating fell to a new low, a poll found, after he called a special election to vote on his plans to redraw political districts and curb state spending growth.

Fifty-three percent of registered voters said they disapproved of Schwarzenegger's performance as governor while 37 percent approved, according to a Field Research Corp. poll that began on the night of June 13, after the governor ordered an election for November. That is the reverse of four months ago, when 55 percent approved and 35 percent disapproved.

``Schwarzenegger really has lost a lot of the political leverage he once had,'' Mark DiCamillo, who conducts polls for the San Francisco-based Field, said in a telephone interview. ``The well is not there as it was last year.''

The Republican governor during his first year in office used his popularity with voters to press the legislature to make it more difficult to claim workers compensation benefits, threatening to seek to have his plan approved by voters at the ballot box should lawmakers refuse. His declining popularity may make it harder for him to win support for proposals that voters will decide in November.