Tim McNulty, Pittsburgh Post Gazette

The latest Quinnipiac poll shows Gov. Tom Corbett with his best approval ratings so far.

Thanks to a boost in popularity among women voters in the state, Gov. Tom Corbett is receiving a positive job approval rating, according to a poll released Thursday morning.

The Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters shows the governor is receiving a 50-32 percent approval rating, his best score so far.

Women give Mr. Corbett a 45-34 percent approval, a turnaround from an Aug. 3 survey in which 37 percent disapproved and 41 percent approved. Men approve 55-30 percent, compared to 51-31 percent in the previous poll.

The Republican governor received a 72-15 percent approval from voters in his party and 52-32 percent approval from independent voters. Democrats disapprove by 47-29 percent.

By 42-37 percent, voters like Corbett’s policies, but they disapprove, 45-40 percent, of the way he is handling the state budget, with independent voters disapproving 47-37 percent.

In other issues, voters said by 62-30 percent that the economic benefits of drilling for natural gas in Marcellus Shale outweigh environmental concerns. Democrats also back drilling by 50-41 percent. Voters favor by 64-27 percent a new tax on gas drilling companies, with 51-37 percent support among Republicans.

From Sept. 21 through Monday, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,370 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points.