Central Pennsylvania MLK Day of Service
Pennsylvania Governor-elect Tom Wolf joins Jeremiah McCain, 9 as they paint walls in the Downey School in Harrisburg on the eve of his inauguration as Pennsylvania's 47th governor. The work was part of the Central Pennsylvania MLK Day of Service. Joe Hermitt, PennLive
(JOE HERMITT)
Gov-elect
starts a new job on Tuesday and he admits he's nervous.
"It's a new job so I'm a little nervous about that but I'm really proud about the team I've put together who's going to work with me and help move the state forward," he said on Monday during a visit to Downey School in Harrisburg.
He also let on that it's not unusual that his nerves are on end. "I've always felt nervous before a new job," he said.
Perhaps the results of a poll released on Monday by Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics will help settle his nerves.
The poll of 434 registered voters found solid majorities of voters expressed confidence in the incoming Democratic governor's ability to lead the state and solve the problems it faces.
The poll conducted between Jan. 7 and Friday showed 69 percent of voters were very or somewhat confident in Wolf's abilities to successfully lead the state, while 24 percent said they were only somewhat confident or not at all confident in his ability to do so.
Mercyhurst University spokeswoman Debbie Morton said the polling center only started doing statewide polls like this one after Gov. Tom Corbett took office in 2011. So it has no comparable data available about the level of optimism that existed before Corbett took office.
On a question about Wolf's ability to solve the problems facing the state, nearly two-thirds expressed confidence that he will get the job done, while 28 percent expressed some degree of doubt about that.
A narrow majority (52 percent) said they were very or somewhat confident in the Democratic governor's ability to work with the Republican-controlled Legislature, while 20 percent said they were somewhat or not at all confident in his ability to do so.
"The governor-elect knows we have big challenges ahead and he's going to work with Republicans and Democrats alike to get Pennsylvania back on track," said his spokesman Jeff Sheridan. "He's looking forward to starting tomorrow."
Half of the poll participants said they expect Wolf will outperform outgoing Gov. Tom Corbett while 11 percent anticipate he won't.
The poll also found strong majorities favor Wolf's agenda: creating a progressive income tax, raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, enacting a 5 percent tax on natural gas extraction, and increasing public school funding.
The margin of error of the poll was plus or minus 4.75 percent.
Staff writer Debbie Truong contributed.