Raising the Issues...

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With the exception of Philadelphia residents, whose former city treasurer was recently convicted in a federal corruption case, Pennsylvanians tend to view local political officeholders more positively than state and federal elected officials.

Forty-three percent of state residents feel they can trust local government to do what’s right all or most of the time. Significantly fewer have the same level of trust in state government (32%) and federal government (27%). Feeling better about political leaders who are closer to home extends to one’s local representatives in the state legislature. Seventy percent of Pennsylvanians say they have a lot or some confidence in their own state senator and representative to deal with the issues they consider most important.

Regional Highlights: With all the recent reporting about political corruption in local government, it is no surprise that Philadelphia city residents do not hold their local elected officials in higher esteem. As shown in the table above, only 20 percent of city residents feel they can usually trust local officials to do the right thing. Local government gets the most positive ratings from residents of the South Central region (49%) and “Rest of State” (51%).