Utah voters are enthusiastic about the job performance of Utah Gov. Olene Walker. But they are not quite so wild about the Utah Legislature.

According to a poll conducted for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV, 81 percent of those surveyed strongly or somewhat approved of Walker's job performance, compared with 7 percent who disapproved. By comparison, 56 percent strongly or somewhat approved of the job performance of state lawmakers, compared with 32 percent who disapproved.

More telling was the fact 42 percent strongly approved of Walker. Only 10 percent strongly approved of the job the Legislature did, according to the poll conducted March 17-20 by Dan Jones & Associates.

On the down side of that question, only 2 percent "strongly" disapproved of Walker, but 19 percent "strongly" disapproved of the job the Legislature did.

Jones said the legislative approval rating at 56 percent, as a whole, is about the same as it has been in other years. What is different is the somewhat larger percentage of those who "strongly disapprove" and the greater percentages coming in at "somewhat approve."

"It's a conditional approval," Jones said. "But there are those who have really strong feelings," as evidenced by the fact roughly one in five voters questioned strongly disapproved of legislative job performance.

"Actually, those are pretty good numbers compared to other years," said House Speaker Marty Stephens, who is running for the GOP nomination for governor. "Fifty-six percent is pretty good. It means a majority of people support the actions of the Legislature, and I am happy about that."

How would he have answered the question? Stephens said he would agree with the 46 percent who somewhat approved of the job the Legislature did. "I'd grade it a B-plus," he said of the legislative session that concluded earlier this month.

The approval rating comes in a year when legislative Democrats made political hay from all the so-called message bills — anti-abortion legislation, anti-gay marriage, among others — that they said tarnished Utah's image nationally and undermined economic development efforts by scaring away companies that were considering moving to the state.

"I felt there was a lot of negative spin by Democrats on the message bills," Stephens said. "But the public recognized it for what it was: partisanship."

Walker, who became governor when former Gov. Mike Leavitt resigned to become head of the Environmental Protection Agency, cannot lay claim to the highest approval rating.