Tuesday, May 31, 2016 2:24 pm
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Morning Consult, a nonpartisan polling group, measured satisfaction with the 50 US governors between January and March of this year. The most popular governor in America is Massachusetts' Republican Governor Charlie Baker with a 72% approval rating.
Budget battles matter. The most unpopular governors in America have fought with their legislatures over money. Governor Sam Brownback takes first place as most unpopular with an approval rating of 26%. Brownback has cut education funding to the bone. Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner whose state still does not have a budget after a year of fighting with the Democratic legislature comes in with a 34% approval rating. After six months in office with a budget that cuts deeply into higher education, Governor Matt Bevin is one of the ten most unpopular governors with a 33% approval rating.
Jobs and performance make a difference. Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan got a low mark of 32% in part because of the lead in the water problems of Flint Michigan. Democrat Dan Mulloy of Connecticut scored 29%. His state has lost jobs to neighboring Massachusetts.
Morning Consult's website said, "America's newest governors, Kentucky Republican Matt Bevin and Louisiana Democrat John Bel Edwards, have experienced opposite fates as voters have gotten to know them better since they were elected last fall.
In the Bluegrass State, Bevin's approval rating sits at 33 percent, well below the 57 percent support which his Democratic predecessor Steve Beshear enjoyed before he left office. Edwards, meanwhile, has a 10 percent higher approval rating than the 35 percent Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal had at the end of his term."
The most popular ten governors are:
1. Charlie Baker (R) - Massachusetts 72%
2. Larry Hogan (D)- Maryland 71%
3. Matt Mead (R) - Wyoming 67%
4. Jack Martell (D) - Delaware 66%
5. Gary Herbert (R)- Utah 64%
6 & 7 (tie) Jack Dalrymple (R) - North Dakota 63%
Bill Haslam (R)- Tennessee 63%
8 & 9 & 10 (tie) Brian Sandoval (R) - Nevada 62%
Asa Hutchinson (R) - Arkansas 62%
Bill Walker (I) - Alaska 62%
The ten most unpopular governors are:
1. Sam Brownback (R) - Kansas 26%
2. Dan Mulloy (D) - Connecticutt 29%
3. Rick Snyder (R) - Michigan 32%
4. Matt Bevin (R) - Kentucky 33%
5. Chris Christie (R) - New Jersey 36%
6. Paul LePage (R) - Maine 38%
7. Mary Fallin (R) - Oklahoma 42%
8. Scott Walker (R) - Wisconsin 43%
9. Tom Wolf (D) - Pennsylvania 44%
10. David Ige (D) - Hawaii 47%
Morning Consult's survey was conducted between January and May. The data was weighed using the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. Sample sizes varied from state to state based on their population.
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