The voters like him, just not the main policies he advocates for.

According to a new poll conducted for the Philadelphia Inquirer by SurveyUSA, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney holds a strong approval rating, specifically among Democrats, while voters take issue with key issues the he stands for.

48% of registered voters polled approve of Kenney’s job performance, while 31% disapprove. His strongest support comes from the Democratic party where 55% polled approve of his job performance, while 24% disapprove and 22% are not sure.

Kenney is facing two Democratic primary challengers, former City Controller Alan Butkovitz and state Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia), in his quest for a second term as mayor. This survey did not poll voters on the upcoming Democratic primary.

The poll, surveying 865 registered Philadelphia voters, collected opinions from April 17-23, 2019. The margin of error for this survey is +/- 4.3 percentage points.

In what the Inquirer describes as Kenney’s “signature achievement”, a majority of those polled believe the sugary beverage tax should be eliminated. 62% polled called the tax a failure, while 26% consider it a success and 13% believe it is too soon to say. 55% believe the tax should be eliminated and 17% think it should be reduced, while a quarter of those polled think it should stay the same or be raised.

Despite disapproval for the sugary beverage tax, voters support Kenney’s pre-K program that is funded by the tax by a 3 to 1 ratio. Those polled believe a different tax should pay for the program.

A larger majority of voters disapprove of the proposed supervised safe injection site that would be opened by a nonprofit. Kenney’s lent his support to this proposed plan as well.

67% oppose this proposed plan, while 22% support it and 11% are unsure.

When voters were asked if they were better off since Kenney was sworn-in as Mayor four years ago, just 21% said they were, while 29% say they are worse off, and 43% say they are in the same shape when Kenney first took office.

Republicans and Democrats in Philadelphia strongly agreed on the biggest issue facing the city. Crime.

45% of Republicans polled said crime was the number one priority, while 37% of Democrats shared the same opinion. Crime was also the leading issue for Independents polled as well with 29% viewing it as the biggest issue.

Poverty and education were the only other two issues that surpassed the double digit threshold. 21% polled view poverty as the top issue in Philadelphia, while 15% said education.

See the full article here.