WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney posted a sharp increase in his favorability rating among women in a poll released Wednesday, but the former Massachusetts governor continues to post historically low popularity numbers for a presumptive major-party presidential nominee.
According to the ABC News/Washington Post poll, Romney currently has a 41 percent favorable rating compared to 45 percent unfavorable. He has a 44 percent favorable rating among registered voters.
President Barack Obama has a 52 percent rating, though that number drops to 49 percent among registered voters.
Romney’s numbers were an improvement from a 35-47 favorable-unfavorable rating in the same poll last month, with all of his gains coming from women.
The former Massachusetts governor’s popularity with women jumped 13 points to 40 percent, up from 27 percent.
In contrast, Obama’s numbers among women fell seven points since last month to a 51 percent favorable rating.
The gains for Romney come after all of his major competitors dropped from the race for the GOP presidential nomination and announced their support for the former Bain Capital chief executive.
Romney’s 41 percent favorability rating is tied for the lowest for a presumptive major-party nominee at a similar point in the campaign, according to ABC News/Washington Post polls in primary seasons going back to 1984.
But that tie was with Bill Clinton in 1992, who went on to win his election.
Obama’s favorability rating is the lowest for a sitting president since George H.W. Bush’s 52 percent rating in 1992 before his electoral defeat, but the current president is just two points behind Ronald Reagan’s and George W. Bush’s marks at a similar point in their campaigns before their re-election victories.