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These Dem Governors in the News Are Among Least Popular in the Country. They're Also Up for Reelection.

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  April 14, 2025 3:30 PM

There's been another poll released showing where state governors rank in popularity. The bottom of the list contains plenty of Democrats, including those up for reelection in 2026. It turns out included in the list are names we've heard plenty of times before: Govs. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) and Janet Mills (D-ME).

This poll may bring worse news to governors already facing bad press just over 18 months away from Election Day 2026.

Morning Consult is once more out with its rankings of governors, and once more, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) ranks toward the bottom. She's at a net approval of +10, with 50 percent of voters saying they approve of the job she's doing and 40 percent saying they disapprove. Ten percent are undecided. We covered earlier this year how that's bad news as she's up for reelection in 2026 and has faced more problems in even more polls. 

Although Hochul isn't mentioned too much in the Morning Consult write-up for the first quarter of 2025, there was a heavy focus on her poor approval ratings for the fourth quarter of 2024. A Morning Consult chart examining each state's governor's approval rating over time shows Hochul had a slight improvement, from a 48-42 percent approval/disapproval rating to this 50-40 percent rating. 

Another name worth discussing, especially in light of President Donald Trump's executive order in February banning men and boys from participating in women and girls' sports, is Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME). As Townhall has been covering, and as Madeline covered earlier on Monday, Mills has been and remains stubborn about not complying with the order. She fares even worse than Hochul as the second most unpopular governor in the country, with a 51 percent approval rating and a 44 percent disapproval rating. Five percent are unsure. 

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Mills, in contrast to Hochul, saw her approval worsen. For the previous quarter, she was at a 54-39 percent approval/disapproval rating and is now at the 51-44 percent rating.

For context as to how bad that is for Hochul and Mills, the country's most popular governor is Republican Phil Scott of Vermont, who has held that title for 11 quarters running. He's at a net approval rating of +58, with a 75 percent approval rating, and only 18 percent of voters saying they disapprove, while 7 percent are unsure. According to Morning Consult's chart on the most popular governors, another Republican, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, takes the third top spot. In between them is Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky. 

Although the 11 most popular governors contain slightly more Democrats than Republicans (six Democrats to five Republicans), there's another big name among the most popular governors: Republican Brian Kemp of Georgia. There's chatter he may run for the U.S. Senate seat in Georgia against Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who is particularly vulnerable and seems to be doing himself no favors, even as Trump won his state last November. Should he run and become the nominee, it looks like Kemp would even pick up Democratic support. 

Going by the Morning Consult chart of the 11 most unpopular governors, seven are Democrats. In addition to Mills and Hochul, the Democrats on the list include Gov. Daniel McKee of Rhode Island, Tina Kotek of Oregon, Gavin Newsom of California, JB Prtizker of Illinois, and Tim Walz of Minnesota. Readers will know most of these other names as well. Kotek, who ran in the 2022 election that brought us a red wave that never truly materialized, polled worse than other Democrats have in such a blue state. Newsom is term-limited and may run for president in 2028, and Prtizker may do so as well. Pritzker has been in the news as the far-left lauds him for standing up to Trump, especially on immigration. It's also particularly amusing that Walz is on that list, former Vice President Kamala Harris' failed running mate for 2024. He may also run for reelection as governor in 2026.

Many of these governors, including their improvements, are mentioned in several of the Morning Consult write-up bullet points:

  • More Georgia voters than ever (63%) approve of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), marking a major improvement from a 2021 low (47%) after he defended the state’s electoral process from Donald Trump following the 2020 election. 
  • Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) emerged unscathed from his 2024 vice presidential bid. The majority of voters in his state (55%) approve of his job performance, similar to the 54% who did so before he ran, and the share with unfavorable views (41%) nearly matches the 40% who did so in the second quarter of 2024. 
  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis garnered his best numbers since he launched his failed campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination two years ago. The latest figures show 53% of Floridians approve and 42% disapprove, marking a 5-point improvement in his net approval rating since a campaign-era low.

Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA), who ranks as the least popular governor in the country, has since announced that she will not run for reelection. While all other governors enjoyed at least a +2 net approval rating, in McKee's case, Reynolds was at a net approval rating of -5. 

The 11 most unpopular governors in order of disapproval rating include Reynolds, Mills, Greg Abbott (R-TX), McKee, Kotek, Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Hochul, Newsom, Tate Reeves (R-MS), Prtizker, and Walz.