REPORT CARDS ISSUED FOR STATE LEADERS …
Last week the pollsters at Morning Consult released their data on the home-state popularity of all 100 United States Senators. This week, they’re providing a report card on America’s fifty governors.
Is the data accurate? Good question …
Morning Consult’s recent U.S. Senate polling found South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham receiving a 45 percent approval rating among Palmetto State voters – compared to 40 percent who disapprove of the job he’s doing. By contrast, a Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey conducted last month found Graham’s approval rating at just 30 percent compared to 54 percent who disapproved.
That’s quite a spread …
That same PPP poll also found governor Nikki Haley with a 48 percent approval rating – compared to 39 percent of South Carolinians who disapproved of her performance. Morning Consult’s data tells a vastly different story, though, giving Haley a whopping 60 percent approval mark compared to only 32 percent who disapprove.
If true, that would put Haley on the cusp of the ten most popular state leaders in America (South Dakota’s Dennis Daugaard leads the way with an astronomical 74 percent approval rating).
Meanwhile in North Carolina, governor Pat McCrory has seen his standing slip in the aftermath of the Tar Heel State’s “bathroom bill” controversy.
Prior to the dust-up, McCrory’s approval rating stood at 50 percent with 38 percent disapproving. According to the latest Morning Consult data, McCrory is now clinging to a 46-44 approval-to-disapproval edge.
America’s least popular governor? Sam Brownback of Kansas, who received a 71 percent disapproval rating from his constituents, according to the data. Only 23 percent of Kansans approve of the job he’s doing.
As with its U.S. Senate rankings, Morning Consult surveyed 71,900 registered voters in all 50 states from early May 2016 through early September 2016. Margins of error vary from state-to-state.
Again … based on the lack of congruence between this data and other polling, we advise taking the Morning Consult numbers with an ocean of salt.
(Banner image via Travis Bell Photography)