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Mike Pence speaks in Anderson about Donald Trump’s upcoming tax plan, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017.
Robert Scheer/IndyStar

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Mike Pence, vice president and former Indiana governor, speaks to a crowd about President Donald Trump’s plan to overhaul taxes, Anderson, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. (Photo: Robert Scheer/IndyStar)Buy Photo

A new poll shows Vice President Mike Pence is more popular with Hoosiers now than when he was governor — and that he is more popular in Indiana than President Donald Trump. 

About 50 percent approved of the job Pence is doing as vice president, while 37 percent disapproved, according to the Old National Bank/Ball State University 2017 Hoosier Survey.  

That’s nearly 10 points higher than Trump’s 41 percent approval rating. 

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It’s also a big improvement over Pence’s poll performance as governor, when he was locked in a tight race for re-election. A Bellwether Research poll in May 2016  found that 40 percent of Hoosiers approved of his job as governor.

“These survey results show that despite more Hoosiers disapproving of President Trump, more Hoosiers approve of Pence’s work as vice president,“ said Chad Kinsella, a political science professor for the Ball State’s Bowen Center for Public Affairs.

Despite the good news for Pence, the poll results suggest that both Trump and Pence are under-performing substantially, given their 19-percentage point victory in Indiana during the 2016 presidential election.

 “Although Pence enjoys a higher degree of approval than President Trump, the findings of the poll show that the overall approval of ticket has declined substantially since the 2016 election,” Kinsella said.

IndyStar reported last week that Trump’s approval rating is under water in Indiana.

Just 41 percent approve of the job Trump is doing as president, compared to 45 percent who disapprove, the poll found.

The poll surveyed 600 adult Hoosiers. The margin of error was plus or minus 5.3 percentage points.

Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

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