Gov. Linda Lingle and Mayor Mufi Hannemann have glowing job approval ratings, suggesting that people have confidence in the state's top two political executives to handle challenges from traffic and education to the homeless and sewer repairs, an Advertiser Hawai'i Poll shows.

Lingle's 73 percent job approval rating is the highest for the Republican governor in the Hawai'i Poll since she took office four years ago. Her popularity extends across political, ethnic and income lines, putting her in an enviable position in an election year.

Sixty-two percent of Democrats approve of the way she is doing her job, partially explaining why the two Democratic candidates for governor, former Mililani state Sen. Randall Iwase and Wai'anae harbormaster William Aila Jr., have not attracted much enthusiasm.

Hannemann's job approval rating is 71 percent, validation for a mayor who has had to respond to an ugly sewage spill in Waikiki and homeowner anger over rising property taxes in the first 18 months of his term. The mayor also does well among different political, ethnic and income groups.

"I think this helps me with the Legislature," Lingle said of her approval rating. "It's where I think it really helps, because it's an indication that the public agrees that the ideas and policies we're putting forward are aligned with their own, and that we're being effective, we're getting the kind of results people appreciate."

Hannemann said the poll shows people recognize he is living up to what he promised during his campaign.

"I said I was going to fix things. I was going to keep my commitments, fulfill promises and leave the place a better place than I found it. What I campaigned on is what people are seeing me do, each and every day," he said.

"I'm not always going to do the most popular thing. We're not always going to say what people want to hear. But you're always going to get two things from us: We're going to talk straight. And we're going to focus on solutions."

The poll was conducted in June among 602 registered voters statewide by Ward Research Inc. for the Advertiser. The margin of error is 4 percentage points. A smaller sample of 440 registered voters who live on O'ahu were asked about the mayor. The margin of error for that sample was 4.7 percentage points.

GAINING LEVERAGE

The governor and the mayor have higher profiles than members of the state Legislature or the City Council, along with the ability to command more news media attention. Their strong approval ratings may give them leverage in dealing with their political opponents, and with one another.

"It reinforces in your own mind that what you're doing is right and it gives you more of a sort of enthusiasm and 'I mua' to keep on doing what you're doing," said Jim Shon, the executive director of the state's charter school office and a former state representative.

"When you have shakier numbers, perhaps like the president, you come up with reasons why those numbers don't matter."

Lingle and Hannemann have scrapped at times over the past several months, first over whether the state or the city should collect a general excise tax increase for mass transit, and then over whose responsibility it is to respond to the homeless. They both minimized their differences, claiming the media has magnified the friction but, in such a small state, many see them as unavoidable political rivals.

Lingle said the media has tried to churn controversy.

"I think it's very disingenuous of the media to come at me and the mayor constantly and set up confrontations and then write editorials of how we should get along together," the governor said.

Hannemann said his differences with Lingle are "more imagined than real."

"We're not going to always be on the same page," the mayor said. "Rightfully so, we shouldn't be on the same page for everything. But I think what I'm trying to do here at the city is do what's best for the city and protect the county. More importantly, I try to see the big picture."

OTHERS FAULTED

Lingle and Hannemann have largely escaped blame for two frightening events linked to the torrential rain that hit the Islands this year: the Kaloko dam breach that killed seven people on Kaua'i and a sewage spill that fouled Waikiki.

Dan Tanaka, a waiter who lives in Pearl City, said Hannemann inherited many of the city's infrastructure problems and should not be faulted for the spill.

"It seems like he's open. He acknowledges there are problems," Tanaka said. "People need to realize that some of these problems have been around for a while."

The state is still investigating the dam breach, but most of the criticism has fallen on the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and retired auto dealer Jimmy Pflueger, one of the owners of the dam property, not on Lingle.

Joan Weisskopf, a retired teacher who lives in Kapolei, said the governor seems level-headed.

"She doesn't seem to go out of her way to make enemies, so it makes her more effective," Weisskopf said. "But, on the other hand, if somebody picks a fight with her, she stands up."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.