America’s three most popular governors throughout 2018 remained the most popular in the fourth quarter of the year, according to a poll of gubernatorial approval ratings conducted by Morning Consult. The quarterly poll measures approval ratings for all 50 state governors.

 

For the eighth consecutive quarter, Gov. Charlie Baker (R-Mass.) was the most popular governor in the country. His 72 percent approval rating was his strongest in the Morning Consult poll since the first quarter of 2017. Baker was followed by Larry Hogan (R-Md.), marking his eighth consecutive quarter in second place. Kay Ivey (R-Ala.) came in third place for a sixth consecutive quarter with 63 percent.

 

The least popular governor was Mary Fallin (R-Okla.) with a 16 percent approval rating. She was followed by Dan Malloy (D-Conn.) with 20 percent and Bruce Rauner (R-Ill.) with 25 percent. All three recently left office. Fallin was term-limited, Malloy did not run for re-election, and Rauner lost his re-election bid to J.B. Pritzker (D).

 

David Ige (D-Hawaii) experienced the largest increase in approval rating during 2018: it went up 17 percentage points from 37 percent in the first quarter to 54 percent in the fourth. Ige was followed by Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) and Tom Wolf (D-Penn.), who each gained 7 percentage points in approval over the course of the year.

 

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