A Te Karere DigiPoll surveyed 1000 Maori voters last month and found 70 percent of respondents did not think Mr Key provided good leadership on Maori issues, while 17 percent did, and 4 percent did not know.
Labour leader David Shearer fared slightly better, although Maori still appear to be weighing him up.
Of those surveyed, 28 percent thought Mr Shearer provided good leadership on Maori issues, 16 percent did not, and 56 percent did not know.
Mr Key said he was not surprised by the results.
"We've just come out of an election in 2011, we actually increased in strong support from what we can see from Maori.''
The poll also questioned Maori about their support for the Government's plan to sell shares in state owned assets, and found an overwhelming majority, 88 percent, opposed the plan.
Just 8 percent supported the plan, and 4 percent said they did not know.
The poll was conducted between January 6 and 27, before consultation with iwi began on the Government's asset sales plan, including whether a Treaty of Waitangi clause should be removed.
The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.
