Chris Christie Approval Rating Hits Rock Bottom As America Ranks Governors

Chris Christie is having a very bad summer. The New Jersey governor caused an outrage when he was photographed using a beach that he closed to the public in a government shutdown. He also took a few feisty callers when he guest-hosted a sports talk program in New York who among other things called him a “bully.” To add to that, a new poll of governor approval ratings by the Morning Consult released Tuesday showed that Christie is America’s least favorite governor.

Christie received a 69 percent disapproval rating from New Jersians and scored only a 25 percent approval rating. A June Quinnipiac University Poll gave him only a 15 percent approval rating. Christie’s two terms as governor end in January. After a failed presidential bid, he has not announced that he would be seeking any other public office.

READ: Chris Christie Responds To Photos Of Him Sunning At A Beach Closed By Government Shutdown

On the other hand, Christie's Massachusetts counterpart, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, got a 71 percent approval and 17 percent disapproval rating in the left-leaning state. Baker has helped his image as a non-partisan pragmatist by keeping President Donald Trump at arm’s length: Bay State enthusiasm for Trump’s administration is low, and Baker has been working closely across the aisle with Democrats like Boston’s mayor, Marty Walsh. The two even did an Adele parody video together when they secured a deal for General Electric to move its headquarters to Boston.

Runners up to Baker’s approval ratings in the Morning Consult poll are four other Republicans. They are Maryland’s Larry Hogan with a 68 percent approval rating; Wyoming’s Matt Mead with a 67 percent approval rating; North Dakota’s Doug Burgum with a 66 percent approval rating; and his southern neighbor South Dakota’s Dennis Daugaard with a 65 percent approval rating.

Hogan, like Baker, is a Republican governor in a blue state. Republicans hold 33 out of 50 governorships.

READ: Republican Governors Association Raised Money From Hedge Funds, Oil, Fossil Fuels and Pharma in 2017

The other governors joining Christie on the bottom of the approval list are Kansas Republican Sam Brownback with a 66 percent disapproval rating, Connecticut Democrat Dan Malloy with a 64 percent disapproval rating, Oklahoma Republican Mary Fallin with a 55 percent disapproval rating and Michigan Republican Rick Snyder with a 52 percent disapproval rating.

Some governors faced large approval rating drops: Delaware’s John Carney, a Democrat, dropped 19 points and West Virginia’s Democratic governor Jim Justice, saw 17-point erosion in his ratings. Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a Republican governor helming a blue state, suffered a 13-point drop.

The Morning Consult poll is based on interviews with 195,704 registered U.S. voters and was conducted from April 1 through July 10.