Rauner Among Least Popular Governors In America: Poll

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is the third least-popular governor in the country, according to a new quarterly poll released by Morning Consult. According to the Q2 poll, 60 percent of voters disapprove of Republican Rauner, while 27 percent approve and the rest don’t know or have no opinion of the governor.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, both Republicans, captured the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the quarterly poll, retaining the same spots as the first quarterly poll conducted in 2018.

Rauner is up for reelection in 2018 and the latest polling shows Illinois could swing back to the Democrats for the governor's race, giving the edge to challenger J.B. Pritzker. (Get Patched In: Subscribe to free daily email, news alerts, Facebook fun and more from Patch)

Rauner's popularity has dropped since a Morning Consult poll in April 2017 ranked him as the seventh least popular governor in the nation.

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• Rauner Ranked Worst Republican Governor In America By National Review

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican who ranked No. 3 in the first quarterly poll, saw a whopping loss in his favorability, falling out of the top 10 and landing three spots from the bottom 10, according to Morning Consult. According to the poll, Scott’s support fell among both among registered voters in his own party and independents, but he remains popular among Democrats. The change comes after Scott signed gun restriction bills in the state, the poll noted.

Replacing Scott for the No. 3 spot was another Republican, Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama.

New governors in New Jersey and Virginia, both Democrats, saw gains in the polls between the first and second quarter.

Here are the top 10 governors in America:

• Charlie Baker (R-Massachusetts)
• Larry Hogan (R-Maryland)
• Kay Ivey (R-Alabama)
• Chris Sununu (R-New Hampshire)
• Dennis Daugaard (R-South Dakota)
• Matt Mead (R-Wyoming)
• Brian Sandoval (R-Nevada)
• Asa Hutchinson (R-Arkansas)
• Nathan Deal (R-Georgia)
• Greg Abbott (R-Texas)

Here are the bottom 10 governors in America:

• Mary Fallin (R-Oklahoma)
• Dan Malloy (D-Connecticut)
• Bruce Rauner (R-Illinois)
• Matt Bevin (R-Kentucky)
• Bill Walker (I-Alaska)
• Susana Martinez (R-New Mexico)
• Paul Lepage (R-Maine)
• Rick Snyder (R-Michigan)
• Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin)

Morning Consult conducted 326,051 surveys with registered U.S. voters from April 1 to June 30 for the poll. (You can see the full methodology here.)

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images