Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is the most unpopular governor in America. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner isn't far behind.
And Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon? He's a little below the middle of the pack in terms of popularity, according to a new national poll.
Morning Consult polled 71,900 people in all 50 states between May and September to rank the governors on popularity.
Brownback scored a dismal 23 percent approval rating, with 71 percent disapproving of his performance, the poll found.
For the past several years, Brownback, a Republican, has had Kansas in a real-world experiment with trickle-down economics, ushering in deep income tax cuts, the elimination of the top tax bracket and additional breaks for businesses.
The theory was that the cuts would spur economic growth and ultimately pay for themselves with the creation of more jobs. Instead, growth has been stagnant; the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report actually gives Kansas a slight negative growth rate, and the fourth-worst in the country. Meanwhile, budget cuts necessitated by the lower tax revenue have hit schools and public services.
"Brownback’s unpopularity, a result of an austere budget and tax strategy that has hampered transportation and education in the state, has raised alarms among Republican officials who worry that other state GOP candidates could be in danger," states a Morning Consult analysis accompanying the poll.
Rauner, Illinois' Republican governor, isn't in great shape, either. The poll puts his approval/disapproval rating at 33/56 percent, sixth worst in the country.
Rauner has been locked in a war of wills with his state's Democratic-controlled Legislature over budget issues since taking office in January 2015, and the showdown has affected public services.
Nixon's ranking of 46 percent approval, with 38 percent disapproval, makes him the 30th most popular governor in the country. That's not stellar, but may still sound surprisingly strong to many Missourians who remember Nixon's widely criticized performance during the Ferguson unrest.
Nixon, a Democrat, is being term-limited out of office in January, which probably has helped his standing. Americans tend to like their politicians better when they're ex-politicians, or headed that way. President Obama's rising approval ratings lately are likely part of the same phenomenon.
The most popular governor in America, says Morning Consult, is South Dakota's Dennis Daugaard, a Republican with a 74 percent approval rating.
Election 2016 from St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Stay in the race. Get our free political newsletter featuring local and national updates and analysis.
This field is required.
Sign Up!
leave this blank
Kevin McDermott • 314-340-8268
@kevinmcdermott on Twitter
———
©2016 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
