Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s approval rating continues to slide less than a year after being elected with overwhelming numbers.

A poll of 600 adults commissioned by KWCH-TV in Wichita found Brownback with an approval rating of 47 percent. Forty-five percent disapproved. Eight percent were undecided.

The poll done by SurveyUSA had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent. It was done June 20-22.

SurveyUSA has been polling Brownback’s approval rating since January when the governor was at his high-water mark of 55 percent as the Legislature began meeting.

But since then, Brownback’s approval rating has been declining, dropping to 52 percent in February, 50 percent in March and 46 percent in May.

The recent poll numbers come at a time when criticism against the governor has been building over decisions to pull money from the state arts commission, close social service offices and aggressively enforce new licensing requirements for abortion clinics. The administration also led efforts to strip Planned Parenthood of federal family planning funds.

Enforcement of the new licensing regulations, now being challenged in federal court, pushed Kansas nearly to the point of being without an abortion provider.

The poll found that Brownback was much more popular among men than women. Fifty-three percent of men supported Brownback compared to 42 percent of women.

However, the governor has some work to do among young adults.

Only 33 percent of adults from 18 to 34 approved of Brownback and 52 percent disapproved. However, a large chunk of that age group — 15 percent — was undecided. (And there really has to be some question how much this group votes anyway.)

The governor did vey well among adults 35 and 49. Fifty-seven percent of this age group approved of the governor while 36 percent disapproved. In the 50-64 age bracket, 48 percent approved of the governor and 46 disapproved. Fifty-one percent of adults 65 and older approved of the governor.

By region, Brownback did well in northeast Kansas where 51 percent approved and 45 disapproved. In southeast Kansas, the governor’s approval rating dropped to 44 percent and it was only 42 percent in western Kansas. It should be noted that about 21 percent of those surveyed in western Kansas were “unsure.”