By MATTHEW J. MALONE
Day Staff Writer
Published on 12/18/2003
Two new opinion polls slamming Gov. John G. Rowland did
little to change the viewpoints of local legislators, whose opinions Wednesday
still ranged from disgust to reserved disapproval.
On Wednesday, Quinnipiac University released a poll that
showed registered voters split over whether the governor should resign. The
results followed Rowland's admission Friday that he lied about receiving free
work on his summer home from politically connected friends. Forty-four percent
of those polled said Rowland should step down. Forty-five percent said he
should remain in office.
Seventy-three percent of those polled said the governor was
dishonest.
Rowland received a 30 percent approval rating, the lowest of
a Connecticut, New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania governor or mayor since the
university began polling the states in 1994 and 1996, Poll Director Douglas
Schwartz said.
Among the four states, Schwartz said, the approval rating is
also lower than any received by a president or senator, with the exception of
former New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli, who received a 28 percent rating in
August 2002. One month later, Torricelli dropped his re-election bid in the
midst of an ethics scandal.
“My reaction is that the people of Connecticut get it,” said
state Rep. Diana Urban, R-North Stonington. Among local Republicans contacted
Wednesday, Urban stood alone in calling for the governor's resignation.
“We have a lame duck with ethical problems,” she said. “We
have a double whammy.”
After the 2002 election, Rowland said he would not seek a
fourth term. Prior to the current controversy, he stepped away from that
statement, leaving the door open to another run. Now, talk centers on whether
he will even complete his four-year term.
State Sen. Edith Prague, a liberal Democrat who has rarely
had a kind word for the governor, joined in te call for Rowland's ouster.
“When you have someone in office you can't trust, you can't
govern,” she said. Prague said the negative poll shows that Rowland should have
“run the state in the best interests of all the people, not just the big boys.”
State Sen. Melodie Peters, D-Old Lyme, also said the
governor should step down.
U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, called on Rowland to
reveal his involvement in any other potential improprieties. Only 12 percent of
respondents in a University of Connecticut poll released Tuesday said they
believed that Rowland has been forthright regarding his involvement in
ethically questionable practices.
Other local legislators, while admonishing the governor for
lying, said that polls alone should not determine the governor's fate. State
Rep. Robert Congdon, R-Preston, said that Rowland should step aside until the
resolution of a federal inquiry into corruption in the governor's
administration.
Many of the legislators contacted Wednesday said that
Rowland's troubles would make it difficult to conduct business in state
government.
“I think the state will be crippled until this is resolved,” Congdon said.