As the 2022 midterm elections approach, many eyes are on the upcoming U.S. gubernatorial elections. Thirty-six states will elect their governor in November, including the 10 most populous states where more than half of the U.S. population resides. Twenty of these seats are held by Republicans and 16 by Democrats.
To identify the least popular governors, 24/7 Wall St. used public opinion data from research company Morning Consult. States are ranked by the share of respondents who disapproved of the job performance of their sitting governor, from lowest to highest. To break ties, governors with the smaller approval rating ranked as more disliked. All approval ratings are based on data Morning Consult collected between April 1 and June 30, 2022, among a representative sample of at least 431 registered voters in each state.
Seven incumbent governors cannot seek reelection due to term limits. Among them are Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. While Hogan is one of four governors, all of them Republicans, who enjoy an approval rating of 70% or higher, Brown, a Democrat, is the only governor with a disapproval rating higher than 50%. (Also see, America’s least popular senators.)
Pennsylvania voters will go to the polls to hire a new chief executive as Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, cannot seek reelection because of term limits. Wolf’s high disapproval rating has not bled onto Attorney General Josh Shapiro, his would-be successor, who is described by Politico as a “first-class fundraiser with a record of winning tough statewide races.”
Dozens of Republican gubernatorial contenders were endorsed by former President Trump in the August Republican primaries. The list includes Kari Lake, who became Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial candidate in a tight primary race that pitted the former news anchor against land-use consultant Karrin Taylor Robson, who was backed by the state’s Republican movers. Like outgoing Gov. Brown of Oregon, outgoing Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who cannot seek reelection due to term limits, has one of the highest disapproval ratings among the country’s 50 governors. (Enjoying name recognition, here are athletes who went on to become politicians.)
Here are America’s least popular governors.
50. Wyoming
> Governor: Gov. Mark Gordon (R)
> Popularity: 74% approve, 17% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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49. Vermont
> Governor: Gov. Phil Scott (R)
> Popularity: 74% approve, 18% disapprove
> In office since: 2017
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
48. Massachusetts
> Governor: Gov. Charlie Baker (R)
> Popularity: 73% approve, 20% disapprove
> In office since: 2015
> Running for office in 2022?: Not seeking reelection
47. Maryland
> Governor: Gov. Larry Hogan (R)
> Popularity: 70% approve, 22% disapprove
> In office since: 2015
> Running for office in 2022?: No (term limited)
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46. West Virginia
> Governor: Gov. Jim Justice (R)
> Popularity: 66% approve, 28% disapprove
> In office since: 2017
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
45. Utah
> Governor: Gov. Spencer Cox (R)
> Popularity: 56% approve, 30% disapprove
> In office since: 2021
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
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44. Arkansas
> Governor: Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R)
> Popularity: 58% approve, 31% disapprove
> In office since: 2015
> Running for office in 2022?: No (term limited)
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43. Alaska
> Governor: Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R)
> Popularity: 52% approve, 32% disapprove
> In office since: 2018
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
42. Colorado
> Governor: Gov. Jared Polis (D)
> Popularity: 57% approve, 33% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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41. Tennessee
> Governor: Gov. Bill Lee (R)
> Popularity: 56% approve, 33% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
40. New Hampshire
> Governor: Gov. Chris Sununu (R)
> Popularity: 60% approve, 34% disapprove
> In office since: 2017
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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38 (tied). Kansas
> Governor: Gov. Laura Kelly (D)
> Popularity: 56% approve, 34% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
38 (tied). Delaware
> Governor: Gov. John Carney (D)
> Popularity: 56% approve, 34% disapprove
> In office since: 2017
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
37. Connecticut
> Governor: Gov. Ned Lamont (D)
> Popularity: 58% approve, 35% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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36. North Dakota
> Governor: Gov. Doug Burgum (R)
> Popularity: 57% approve, 35% disapprove
> In office since: 2016
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
35. Indiana
> Governor: Gov. Eric Holcomb (R)
> Popularity: 54% approve, 35% disapprove
> In office since: 2017
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
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34. Virginia
> Governor: Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R)
> Popularity: 53% approve, 35% disapprove
> In office since: 2022
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
32 (tied). Alabama
> Governor: Gov. Kay Ivey (R)
> Popularity: 57% approve, 36% disapprove
> In office since: 2017
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
32 (tied). Ohio
> Governor: Gov. Mike DeWine (R)
> Popularity: 57% approve, 36% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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31. Montana
> Governor: Gov. Greg Gianforte (R)
> Popularity: 55% approve, 36% disapprove
> In office since: 2021
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
30. Idaho
> Governor: Gov. Brad Little (R)
> Popularity: 54% approve, 36% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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29. Missouri
> Governor: Gov. Mike Parson (R)
> Popularity: 48% approve, 36% disapprove
> In office since: 2018
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
28. South Carolina
> Governor: Gov. Henry McMaster (R)
> Popularity: 53% approve, 37% disapprove
> In office since: 2017
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
27. North Carolina
> Governor: Gov. Roy Cooper (D)
> Popularity: 51% approve, 37% disapprove
> In office since: 2017
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
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26. New York
> Governor: Gov. Kathy Hochul (D)
> Popularity: 49% approve, 38% disapprove
> In office since: 2021
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
25. South Dakota
> Governor: Gov. Kristi Noem (R)
> Popularity: 59% approve, 39% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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24. Kentucky
> Governor: Gov. Andy Beshear (D)
> Popularity: 55% approve, 39% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
22 (tied). Georgia
> Governor: Gov. Brian Kemp (R)
> Popularity: 52% approve, 39% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
22 (tied). New Jersey
> Governor: Gov. Phil Murphy (D)
> Popularity: 52% approve, 39% disapprove
> In office since: 2018
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
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21. California
> Governor: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)
> Popularity: 53% approve, 40% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
20. Nebraska
> Governor: Gov. Pete Ricketts (R)
> Popularity: 51% approve, 40% disapprove
> In office since: 2015
> Running for office in 2022?: No (term limited)
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19. Florida
> Governor: Gov. Ron Desantis (R)
> Popularity: 53% approve, 41% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
18. Louisiana
> Governor: Gov. John Bel Edwards (D)
> Popularity: 50% approve, 41% disapprove
> In office since: 2016
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
17. Oklahoma
> Governor: Gov. Kevin Stitt (R)
> Popularity: 48% approve, 41% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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16. Maine
> Governor: Gov. Janet Mills (D)
> Popularity: 53% approve, 42% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
15. Minnesota
> Governor: Gov. Tim Walz (D)
> Popularity: 51% approve, 42% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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14. Nevada
> Governor: Gov. Steve Sisolak (D)
> Popularity: 50% approve, 42% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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13. Washington
> Governor: Gov. Jay Inslee (D)
> Popularity: 51% approve, 43% disapprove
> In office since: 2013
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
12. Texas
> Governor: Gov. Greg Abbott (R)
> Popularity: 50% approve, 43% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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11. New Mexico
> Governor: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D)
> Popularity: 49% approve, 43% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
10. Mississippi
> Governor: Gov. Tate Reeves (R)
> Popularity: 47% approve, 43% disapprove
> In office since: 2020
> Running for office in 2022?: No election this year
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9. Rhode Island
> Governor: Gov. Dan McKee (D)
> Popularity: 38% approve, 43% disapprove
> In office since: 2021
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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8. Illinois
> Governor: Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D)
> Popularity: 51% approve, 44% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
7. Michigan
> Governor: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D)
> Popularity: 50% approve, 45% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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6. Iowa
> Governor: Gov. Kim Reynolds (R)
> Popularity: 47% approve, 45% disapprove
> In office since: 2017
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
5. Pennsylvania
> Governor: Gov. Tom Wolf (D)
> Popularity: 47% approve, 46% disapprove
> In office since: 2015
> Running for office in 2022?: No (term limited)
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4. Wisconsin
> Governor: Gov. Tony Evers (D)
> Popularity: 46% approve, 47% disapprove
> In office since: 2019
> Running for office in 2022?: Yes
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3. Arizona
> Governor: Gov. Doug Ducey (R)
> Popularity: 44% approve, 47% disapprove
> In office since: 2015
> Running for office in 2022?: No (term limited)
2. Hawaii
> Governor: Gov. David Ige (D)
> Popularity: 44% approve, 49% disapprove
> In office since: 2014
> Running for office in 2022?: No (term limited)
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1. Oregon
> Governor: Gov. Kate Brown (D)
> Popularity: 40% approve, 55% disapprove
> In office since: 2015
> Running for office in 2022?: No (term limited)
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