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Hoeven, Huntsman Are Top U.S. Governors
- North Dakota Republican John Hoeven and Utah Republican Jon Huntsman are the most popular governors in the United States, according to a 50-state poll conducted by SurveyUSA. 76 per cent of respondents in the two states approve of their performance.
West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin is next on the list with 72 per cent, followed by New Hampshire Democrat John Lynch with 70 per cent, Connecticut Republican Jodi Rell and Montana Democrat Brian Schweitzer with 69 per cent each, and Nebraska Republican Dave Heineman with 68 per cent.
The average approval rating for U.S. governors is 49 per cent. The lowest-ranked politicians are Kentucky Republican Ernie Fletcher with 30 per cent, Alaska Republican Frank Murkowski with 21 per cent, and Ohio Republican Bob Taft with 17 per cent.
Polling Data
Do you approve or disapprove of your governor's performance?
State | Name | Party | Approve | Disapprove |
North Dakota | Hoeven, John | R | 76% | 19% |
Utah | Huntsman, Jon | R | 76% | 18% |
West Virginia | Manchin, Joe | D | 72% | 24% |
New Hampshire | Lynch, John | D | 70% | 21% |
Connecticut | Rell, Jodi | R | 69% | 27% |
Montana | Schweitzer, Brian | D | 69% | 23% |
Nebraska | Heineman, Dave | R | 68% | 27% |
Hawaii | Lingle, Linda | R | 67% | 27% |
Oklahoma | Henry, Brad | D | 67% | 28% |
Wyoming | Freudenthal, Dave | D | 66% | 28% |
South Dakota | Rounds, Mike | R | 65% | 31% |
New Mexico | Richardson, Bill | D | 64% | 32% |
Pennsylvania | Rendell, Edward | D | 61% | 36% |
Alabama | Riley, Bob | R | 60% | 37% |
Kansas | Sebelius, Kathleen | D | 60% | 35% |
Vermont | Douglas, Jim | R | 60% | 32% |
Arizona | Napolitano, Janet | D | 58% | 38% |
Georgia | Perdue, Sonny | R | 58% | 37% |
Mississippi | Barbour, Haley | R | 58% | 37% |
Colorado | Owens, Bill | R | 57% | 37% |
Florida | Bush, Jeb | R | 57% | 41% |
Tennessee | Bredesen, Phil | D | 57% | 34% |
South Carolina | Sanford, Mark | R | 55% | 37% |
Nevada | Guinn, Kenny | R | 54% | 39% |
Arkansas | Huckabee, Mike | R | 53% | 43% |
Iowa | Vilsack, Tom | D | 52% | 44% |
Maryland | Ehrlich, Robert | R | 52% | 43% |
Minnesota | Pawlenty, Tim | R | 52% | 42% |
North Carolina | Easley, Michael | D | 52% | 41% |
Virginia | Kaine, Tim | D | 52% | 38% |
Washington | Gregoire, Christine | D | 52% | 45% |
Rhode Island | Carcieri, Don | R | 51% | 44% |
Indiana | Daniels, Mitch | R | 48% | 47% |
Massachusetts | Romney, Mitt | R | 48% | 48% |
Wisconsin | Doyle, Jim | D | 48% | 45% |
Texas | Perry, Rick | R | 47% | 48% |
Illinois | Blagojevich, Rod | D | 44% | 51% |
Maine | Baldacci, John | D | 44% | 52% |
Michigan | Granholm, Jennifer | D | 43% | 53% |
Delaware | Minner, Ruth | D | 41% | 54% |
Louisiana | Blanco, Kathleen | D | 41% | 56% |
California | Schwarzenegger, Arnold | R | 40% | 57% |
New Jersey | Corzine, Jon | D | 39% | 58% |
New York | Pataki, George | R | 39% | 57% |
Oregon | Kulongoski, Ted | D | 39% | 55% |
Missouri | Blunt, Matt | R | 38% | 58% |
Kentucky | Fletcher, Ernie | R | 30% | 66% |
Alaska | Murkowski, Frank | R | 21% | 76% |
Ohio | Taft, Bob | R | 17% | 78% |
U.S. Average | 49% | 47% |
Source: SurveyUSA
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 600 adult residents of each of the country's 50 states, conducted from Jul. 14 to Jul. 16, 2006. Margins of error for each state range from 3.8 to 4.1 per cent.