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You are here: Home / Uncategorized / Michigan’s Two U.S. Senators Have Sub-Par Job Ratings

Michigan’s Two U.S. Senators Have Sub-Par Job Ratings

October 31, 2017 by tbreport 1 Comment

 By Eli Yokley
Morning Consult
October 31, 2017

Michigan’s two U.S. Senators — Democrats Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters — have job ratings that are “above water,” meaning that more Michiganders approve of the job they’re doing than disapprove.

That’s the good news for the two solons. The bad news is that both Peters and Stabenow have job ratings that are in the “bottom half” of rankings of all of the nation’s 100 U.S. Senators. And Peters continues to suffer the ignominy of being the “least known” member of the Senate. After nearly three years in office, more than a third of Michiganders don’t even know who he is.

Heading into her 2018 re-election effort, Stabenow can claim 45% of Michiganders approve of the job she’s doing, with 36% disapproving and a fifth (19%) not even knowing who she is after 45 years of serving in elected office. For Peters, it’s even worse in terms of being “faceless” in the state he represents, Michigan — 37% approve of the job he’s doing, with 28% disapproving, but a whopping 35% have no idea who he is. No other U.S. Senator has an “unknown” factor as large as Peters.

Elsewhere, the most popular and least popular U.S. Senators are what you might expect — Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is the most popular, and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is the least.

Along with President Donald Trump’s declining support across the country, approval ratings for nearly all senators went down in their home states during the third quarter. The period overlapped with several unsuccessful Republican-led attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

According to Morning Consult’s latest Senator Approval Rankings – compiled from a poll of 255,120 registered voters in 50 states from July 1 to Sept. 30 – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is yet again America’s least popular senator. Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) remains America’s most popular senator. Full methodology available here.

  • 1
    Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
    71% 22%
  • 2
    Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
    67% 22%
  • 3
    John Hoeven (R-ND)
    63% 20%
  • 4
    Susan Collins (R-ME)
    62% 30%
  • 5
    Angus King (I-ME)
    61% 27%
  • 6
    Brian Schatz (D-HI)
    60% 22%
  • 7
    Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
    60% 24%
  • 8
    Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
    59% 26%
  • 9
    Ron Wyden (D-OR)
    56% 23%
  • 10
    John Thune (R-SD)
    56% 31%

In Kentucky, one-third of voters approve of McConnell’s job performance, while 55 percent of voters said they disapprove — more than any other senator. In Vermont, 71 percent of voters approve of Sanders, while 22 percent disapprove of Sanders, who ran a stronger-than-expected race in 2016 for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Related: America’s Most and Least Popular Governors

McConnell’s net approval, the difference in his approval and disapproval percentages, dropped 15 percentage points, the third-largest drop in the Senate, from the second quarter, according to the survey. The slide came as he failed to advance Obamacare repeal — a key pillar of the GOP’s political agenda since the law’s enactment in 2010.

Biggest swings

The most dramatic swings in approval came for Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) and Sen. Cory Gardner (Colo.). Their net rankings both went down 18 percentage points.

Since Morning Consult’s last release in July, West Virginians’ approval of Capito has fallen 8 points, from 56 percent to 48 percent, according to the survey. At the same time, her disapproval rose 10 points, from 26 percent to 36 percent.

Colorado voters are split nearly evenly (40 percent to 39 percent) on Gardner, who chairs the Senate GOP’s campaign arm. Like Capito, his approval dropped 8 percentage points while his disapproval rose 10 percentage points.

Both senators would face voters again in 2020 if they choose to seek second, six-year terms.

The controversies

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) – who spent several weeks consumed by a federal corruption trial – joined the ranks of senators whose approval went underwater in the third quarter. In New Jersey, 32 percent of voters approve of his job performance, the lowest of any senator. Forty-one percent disapprove of him and 28 percent said they did not know or had no opinion of the senator, who has been in that office since January 2006.

  • Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who published a book in August criticizing Trump’s brand of politics, saw a 7-point drop in his net approval before he announced he would not run for re-election next year. He ended September as the second least-popular senator in the country, with 33 percent of voters approving of him compared with 48 percent disapproving. Two in 10 voters in Arizona said they did not know or had no opinion of Flake.

Rare improvements

Few senators saw improvement in their net approval rating outside the margins of error since the last survey was published in July. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) broke that rule with a 6-percentage point increase in his net approval after being underwater in the second quarter of the year. The survey found 46 percent of Arizona voters approve of him and 44 percent of voters disapprove of him. McCain was the deciding vote against a Senate plan to repeal Obamacare and has been fighting cancer.

Related: How Voters View 2018’s Most Vulnerable Senators a Year Out

Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) both saw their net approval increase by 9 percentage points. For Tester, who is up for re-election next year, that came from a 6-point drop in those who said they disapproved of him, to 33 percent, and a 3-percentage point spike in those who said they approved of him, to 53 percent — a change that is within Montana’s 4-point margin of error.

Another Democrat up for re-election in a state won by Trump last year, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), saw her approval fall 4 points, to 42 percent — but her disapproval hardly moved, ending the quarter at 39 percent after she participated in several August town hall-style events.

State Senator Approve Dissaprove Don’t Know/No Opinion Margin of Error
Alabama Richard Shelby 53% 27% 20% 1%
Alabama Luther Strange 44% 34% 23% 1%
Alaska Lisa Murkowski 49% 38% 13% 5%
Alaska Dan Sullivan 49% 32% 18% 5%
Arizona John McCain 46% 44% 10% 1%
Arizona Jeff Flake 33% 48% 20% 1%
Arkansas Tom Cotton 55% 27% 18% 2%
Arkansas John Boozman 52% 23% 25% 2%
California Dianne Feinstein 47% 33% 20% 1%
California Kamala Harris 46% 26% 28% 1%
Colorado Michael Bennet 46% 30% 24% 2%
Colorado Cory Gardner 40% 39% 22% 2%
Connecticut Richard Blumenthal 54% 34% 12% 2%
Connecticut Chris Murphy 53% 31% 17% 2%
Delaware Thomas Carper 55% 24% 20% 3%
Delaware Chris Coons 48% 29% 22% 3%
Florida Bill Nelson 50% 26% 24% 1%
Florida Marco Rubio 47% 37% 16% 1%
Georgia David Perdue 51% 26% 24% 1%
Georgia John Isakson 49% 26% 25% 1%
Hawaii Mazie Hirono 60% 24% 16% 4%
Hawaii Brian Schatz 60% 22% 18% 4%
Idaho Michael Crapo 50% 30% 19% 3%
Idaho James Risch 43% 29% 28% 3%
Illinois Tammy Duckworth 41% 32% 26% 1%
Illinois Dick Durbin 37% 38% 25% 1%
Indiana Joe Donnelly 47% 26% 27% 1%
Indiana Todd Young 45% 26% 28% 1%
Iowa Chuck Grassley 50% 35% 15% 2%
Iowa Joni Ernst 45% 36% 19% 2%
Kansas Jerry Moran 44% 34% 22% 2%
Kansas Pat Roberts 39% 40% 21% 2%
Kentucky Rand Paul 48% 36% 16% 1%
Kentucky Mitch McConnell 33% 55% 12% 1%
Louisiana John Kennedy 50% 25% 26% 2%
Louisiana Bill Cassidy 47% 30% 24% 2%
Maine Susan Collins 62% 30% 8% 3%
Maine Angus King 61% 27% 12% 3%
Maryland Ben Cardin 50% 23% 27% 1%
Maryland Chris Van Hollen 48% 23% 29% 1%
Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren 54% 35% 11% 1%
Massachusetts Ed Markey 49% 22% 28% 1%
Michigan Debbie Stabenow 45% 36% 19% 1%
Michigan Gary Peters 37% 28% 35% 1%
Minnesota Amy Klobuchar 59% 26% 15% 2%
Minnesota Al Franken 55% 32% 14% 2%
Mississippi Thad Cochran 51% 27% 21% 2%
Mississippi Roger Wicker 49% 26% 24% 2%
Missouri Roy Blunt 44% 36% 20% 1%
Missouri Claire McCaskill 42% 39% 18% 1%
Montana Jon Tester 53% 33% 14% 4%
Montana Steve Daines 49% 32% 20% 4%
Nebraska Ben Sasse 46% 34% 20% 3%
Nebraska Deb Fischer 45% 35% 19% 3%
Nevada Catherine Cortez Masto 45% 32% 23% 2%
Nevada Dean Heller 39% 39% 21% 2%
New Hampshire Maggie Hassan 53% 31% 15% 3%
New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen 50% 33% 17% 3%
New Jersey Cory Booker 48% 30% 21% 1%
New Jersey Robert Menendez 32% 41% 28% 1%
New Mexico Tom Udall 46% 31% 24% 3%
New Mexico Martin Heinrich 45% 31% 24% 3%
New York Chuck Schumer 55% 29% 15% 1%
New York Kirsten Gillibrand 49% 24% 26% 1%
North Carolina Richard Burr 42% 32% 27% 1%
North Carolina Thom Tillis 38% 31% 30% 1%
North Dakota John Hoeven 63% 20% 18% 4%
North Dakota Heidi Heitkamp 55% 32% 14% 4%
Ohio Sherrod Brown 47% 28% 25% 1%
Ohio Rob Portman 43% 31% 25% 1%
Oklahoma James Lankford 48% 28% 24% 2%
Oklahoma James Inhofe 45% 34% 21% 2%
Oregon Ron Wyden 56% 23% 21% 2%
Oregon Jeff Merkley 53% 24% 24% 2%
Pennsylvania Robert Casey 43% 32% 25% 1%
Pennsylvania Patrick Toomey 39% 38% 23% 1%
Rhode Island Jack Reed 51% 28% 21% 3%
Rhode Island Sheldon Whitehouse 49% 32% 18% 3%
South Carolina Tim Scott 55% 22% 24% 1%
South Carolina Lindsey Graham 44% 39% 17% 1%
South Dakota John Thune 56% 31% 13% 4%
South Dakota Mike Rounds 51% 32% 16% 4%
Tennessee Bob Corker 48% 30% 23% 1%
Tennessee Lamar Alexander 45% 31% 23% 1%
Texas Ted Cruz 52% 32% 16% 1%
Texas John Cornyn 46% 27% 28% 1%
Utah Mike Lee 52% 30% 18% 2%
Utah Orrin Hatch 46% 41% 13% 2%
Vermont Bernie Sanders 71% 22% 6% 4%
Vermont Patrick Leahy 67% 22% 12% 4%
Virginia Mark Warner 53% 28% 19% 1%
Virginia Tim Kaine 48% 35% 18% 1%
Washington Patty Murray 51% 32% 17% 1%
Washington Maria Cantwell 50% 28% 22% 1%
West Virginia Joe Manchin 53% 36% 11% 2%
West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito 48% 36% 16% 2%
Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin 41% 38% 21% 1%
Wisconsin Ron Johnson 41% 39% 20% 1%
Wyoming John Barrasso 53% 26% 21% 6%
Wyoming

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Thomas Haley says

    November 2, 2017 at 11:03 pm

    This bring to mind HL Mencken quote,
    “Nobody ever went broke underestimation the idiocy or good taste of the
    American people.” And W Edward Deming in Flint said,
    (1) In a bad system there are good people doing their best making things worst.
    (2) How could they know, who was there to teach them?
    (3) An average means 50% are above and 50% are below.

    Published quotes:
    http://www.slideshare.net/optimaltransformation/a-collection-of-quotes-from-w-edwards-deming

    Reply

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