It’s a little misleading since some of the governors on the list are no longer in office, but the Morning Consult ratings are out and there are some interesting findings. I am going to highlight two of them. First, the Republicans are far more polarizing than the Democrats. The ten most popular governors in America are all Republicans, but it’s also true that nine of the ten most unpopular governors are Republicans. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts is the best-liked governor we have, and now that Chris Christie has been replaced the least-liked governor is Democrat Dan Malloy of Connecticut. But Malloy is all alone among his party members in that distinction.
The second thing I want to emphasize is the regional strength of the GOP in New England and their comparative weakness in the upper Midwest. First, it’s notable that there are only two Democratic governors in New England and that they’re both disliked. Malloy is basically loathed, and Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island is the second most disliked Democratic governor in the country. She taking a 40%-47% approval rating into her reelection bid.
Meanwhile, the New England Republicans look like this:
Charlie Baker of Massachusetts- 69%-16%
Phil Scott of Vermont- 63%-21%
Chris Sununu of New Hampshire- 58%-22%
Paul LePage of Maine- 42%-53%
Obviously, the GOP is doing something right in this region and the Democrats, for all their strength in Congress, are doing something wrong.
But in the upper Midwest the story is different. Illinois’ Bruce Rauner is a dead man walking with a 31%-55% rating, and Scott Walker of Wisconsin isn’t looking too hot with his 43%-50% numbers. In Michigan, the people are done with Rick Snyder (37%-47%). You have to go to Indiana and Ohio to find a popular Republican governors in the region. Eric Holcomb who is brand new is getting a healthy 50%-24% and John Kasich, who’s on his way out, is rocking 52%-30% approvals. Meanwhile, the Democrats are fairly popular. Mark Dayton of Minnesota who isn’t seeking reelection gets 52%-33% approvals, and Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania who is seeking reelection has a modestly positive 44%-38% rating. It’s likely that Wolf is only net positive because of the Mid-Atlantic portion of his state, though.
In any case, these numbers are curious. They really don’t correlate with the presidential election results very well at all. Trump did best in Maine among all New England states, for example, and yet that’s where the Republican governor is least popular. Trump won the upper Midwest states, but the Democrats are playing offense in the region right now, at least in the governors races.
At least things stay interesting, right?