9 of the 10 Most Popular Governors in America are Republicans

Morning Consult released the results of a poll gauging the approval ratings of all 50 of America’s governors.

Responses for the poll were gathered between July 21 and Oct. 20, with nine of the top ten governors boasting the highest recorded approval ratings being Republicans.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a liberal Republican who was first elected in 2016, took the top spot with some 79% of voters expressing their approval of his job as governor. Closest behind were Govs. Charlie Baker (R-Mass.) and Larry Hogan (R-Md.), who saw approval ratings of 72% and 70%, respectively.

The remainder of the top ten, in order, were Chris Sununu (R-N.H.), Mark Gordon (R-Wyo.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Ned Lamont (D-Conn.), Kay Ivey (R-Ala.), Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), and Spencer Cox (R-Utah).

Meanwhile, Gov. Kate Brown (D-Ore.) placed last, with an approval rating of only 43% — it should be noted that even Brown, whom Morning Consult claims is the least popular governor in the country, boasts an approval rating roughly two percent greater than that averaged by President Joe Biden.

Coming in closely behind Brown were Gov. Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.) at 44%, and Govs. David Ige (D-Hawaii) and Tony Evers (D-Wis.), each with approval ratings of just 45%.

Govs. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.), Tom Wolf (D-Pa.), Brian Kemp (R-Ga.), Tate Reeves (R-Miss.), Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa), and Steve Sisolak (D-Nev.) filled out the remainder of the bottom ten.

If this poll is anything to go by, the big winners nationwide seem to be the moderate to liberal Republicans governing royal-blue states, such as Scott and Baker, whose big-tent appeal often helps them electorally — each of the nation’s top four most popular governors, according to the poll, fall into this category.

The losers seem to be Democrats writ large, as there is no real trend applying to those placing near the bottom — some, like Newsom, Ige, and Hochul, hold seats in deep-blue states. Others, like Evers and Wolf, are swing-state Democrats who have simply governed to the hard left of their constituents, and whose parties should likely brace themselves for a rude awakening come next November.