.
Pence’s job approval rating is underwater at 40 percent,
according to a May poll, and even among Republicans only six-in-10 supported his re-election.
“It’s a tight race,” said Christine Matthews, a Republican pollster who has conducted extensive polling in Indiana, but is not affiliated with the Pence campaign. “It’s not because Gregg’s popular. Thirty percent of the people don’t even know who he is.”
Pence’s fights on social issues have damaged his position among key Republicans constituencies, from business leaders to college-educated women in vote-rich Marion County.
“There was a sense that he was pursuing these divisive conservative issues in a way that Mitch Daniels never did,” said Matthews, who conducted polling for both of Daniels’ gubernatorial campaigns.
That’s left some Republicans salivating at the prospect of Pence’s departure and the prospect of Daniels taking his place atop the ticket. Daniels, who currently serves as the president of Purdue University, has not ruled out making a run. The decision must be made soon: July 15 is the deadline by which Pence must withdraw from the gubernatorial race to avoid appearing on the ballot.