These Are The Most And Least Popular Governors In America

Chris Christie is now the most unpopular governor in America, whose numbers plunged after he endorsed then-candidate Donald Trump early on in the 2016 presidential race, according to Morning Consult's governor approval rankings.

While Christie is the most unpopular governor, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, takes the spot for the most popular governor in the country. In the state that neighbors Baker's, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy ranked as the least popular Democratic governor in the country. Malloy's ranking probably comes as no surprise to residents of the Nutmeg State, who have seen General Electric, one of the state's biggest employers, leave under his leadership.

According to the rankings, America's most popular governors are:

1. Charlie Baker (R-MA)
2. Larry Hogan (R-MD)
3. Doug Burgum (R-ND)
4. Phil Scott (R-VT)
5. Dennis Daugaard (R-SD)
6. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR)
7. Greg Abbott (R-TX)
8. Bill Haslam (R-TN)
9. Brian Sandoval (R-NV)
10. Gary Herbert (R-UT)
11. Nathan Deal (R-GA)

Morning Consults says more than 85,000 registered voters across America evaluated the job performance of their governors from January 2017 through March 2017 to determine the latest rankings. Click here to see the full methodology.

The governors that ranked as the least popular been dogged by scandals or have generally not done a good job of governing. Take Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who has been dogged by the Flint water crisis, or Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, who struck a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to misusing of campaign funds in connection with a sex scandal and resigned on Monday. Meanwhile, under the leadership of Bruce Rauner, Illinois has not had a full budget enacted into law since 2014, according to PolitiFact. Budget woes have also plagued Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy.

According to the rankings, these are the least popular governors in America:

1. Chris Christie (R-NJ)
2. Sam Brownback (R-KS)
3. Dannel Malloy (D-CT)
4. Rick Snyder (R-MI)
5. Mary Fallin (R-OK)
6. Bill Walker (I-AK)
7. Bruce Rauner (R-IL)
8. Scott Walker (R-WI)
9. Susana Martinez (R-NM)
10. Robert Bentley (R-AL)

Other notable trends in the rankings include newly elected North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper's rankings, who is much more popular than his Republican predecessor, Pat McCrory, who passed the controversial bathroom bill. Half of North Carolinians approve of Cooper's performance compared with the 46 percent who approved of McCrory's performance in September. Cooper's disapproval rating is 29 percent, compared to the 44 percent who disapproved of McCrory's job performance.

The survey also notes that Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has continued to make gains after winning the election in 2015. The Democratic governor has an approval rating of 60 percent, up from 46 percent in September. Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, who was also elected in 2015, has also seen his approval ratings go up.

>>>Click here to view the full rankings.

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