Morning Consult polled over 85,000 registered voters between January and March of this year and found that Republican Chris Christie is now the least popular governor is the country. That title had previously belonged to fellow GOP-er Kansas’ Sam Brownback who earned his infamous position after an “experiment” in extreme tax cuts has Kansas headed toward financial ruin.
Facing legal trouble stemming from his “Bridgegate” scandal and suffering a downturn in popularity following his ardent support for President Trump, Christie finds himself with a meager 25 percent approval rating, two points lower than Brownback. In the first half of 2016, Christie held a 36 percent approval rating.
Democrat Dan Malloy of Connecticut is the third least popular governor, with a 29 percent approval rating. Critics of Gov. Malloy point to a slew of tax increases and a shrinking economy as the chief reasons his constituents are unhappy with his job performance.
Sitting as the most popular governors on the list are Republicans Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Larry Hogan of Maryland with 75 and 73 percent approval ratings respectively. According to Morning Consult, these numbers have little to do with party and more to do with reaching across the aisle in an effort to support the voters they represent:
“Both governors have reputations as shrewd, bipartisan dealmakers who value results over party purity, and their constituents seem to appreciate that style.”
On the legislative side, Bernie Sanders ranks as the most popular lawmaker, with only 21 percent of his constituents disapproving of his work. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins tackled Bernie’s popularity in a video piece published Tuesday:
The message is clear: the American people don’t care about the letter next to your name. Voters want to know that those they send to government posts will do whatever it takes to fight for their constituents.
The Republicans and Democrats are more interested in protecting their decaying institutions than improving this country. If a Republican is willing to step away from party politics to strike deals within a blue state, it resonates with voters. Similarly, if a Democrat challenges the establishment, they are rewarded by the people they represent.
When 2018 rolls around, we need to put people over politics. This is one of the reasons that Ring of Fire supports the work of Brand New Congress. They are looking to run over 400 “non-politicians” for Congress. You can nominate someone or donate at BrandNewCongress.org.
