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A majority of voters in the District of Columbia disapprove of the job that Mayor Vincent Gray is doing, and more voters prefer Gray's two most recent predecessors, according to a new poll released early Thursday.

According to the poll, conducted by Clarus Research Group, 53 percent of District voters disapprove of the job that Gray is doing as mayor, while only 34 percent of voters approve of his job performance. Among registered Democrats -- who dominate the District elections -- his approval rating stands at 39 percent.

In March, just three months into his tenure as mayor, 31 percent of voters approved of Gray's job performance, and 40 percent disapproved.

There is a vast racial divide in District voters' perception of Gray's mayoralty. Among African-American voters, 48 percent approve of Gray's job performance, and 37 percent disapprove. But white voters disapprove of Gray's handling of his job by a wide margin: Only 16 percent of white voters approve of Gray, while an overwhelming majority, 77 percent, disapprove.

"The mayor has never defined his mayoralty," said Clarus Research Group President Ron Faucheux. "News stories about cronyism and criminal investigations have framed his first year in office. His ratings, and those of the Council, are suffering from a cloud of uneasiness that hangs over city politics."