Here are America’s most popular and least popular governors 

Vermont’s Gov. Phil Scott (R) is the most popular governor nationwide, according to new polling from Morning Consult, and Oregon’s former Gov. Kate Brown (D) clocks in last place. 

In the wake of several key, close governor’s contests in the midterms, attention now turns to off-year races coming up this year in Louisiana, Kentucky and Mississippi and to campaigns gearing up for 2024.

Here are America’s most and least popular governors, according to voter ratings in each state taken by Morning Consult: 

Vermont Republican takes top slot 

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, left, walks through the Republican Governors Association conference, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Vermont’s Gov. Phil Scott (R) took the top spot on the list with a whopping 81 percent approval rating. 

Just 14 percent disapproved of the moderate Republican governor, who won a fourth term in the midterm elections as the GOP leader of a deeply blue state — and who has been notably outspoken against his ex-party leader, former President Trump. 

Scott’s approval rating was 4 percentage points higher than the second-place governor, Wyoming’s Mark Gordon (R), who scored 77 percent. 

Eight of the top 10 governors on the Morning Consult list were Republicans, but the party still made up half of the bottom 10 on the list.  

Arizona’s Ducey is least popular Republican 

Former Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey gives his state of the state address at the Arizona Capitol, Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Arizona’s former Gov. Doug Ducey is the least popular Republican on the list, coming in second-to-last with a 45 percent approval rating and 46 percent disapproving. 

The Arizona governor was term-limited and replaced in the midterms by current Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), who moved over from the secretary of state position and beat out far-right gubernatorial hopeful Kari Lake for Ducey’s seat.  

In his last term, Ducey was part of an effort with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and other Republican governors in southern border states who bused migrants north to Democrat-led cities in protest of the Biden administration’s immigration stance.  

In the last weeks before Hobbs took the leadership role, Ducey was accused of “illegal dumping” for an effort to use shipping containers lined with razor wire to plug gaps in the wall along Arizona’s border with Mexico. 

Kentucky’s Beshear is most popular Democrat 

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear delivers his State of the Commonwealth speech from the floor of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) boasted a 60 percent approval rating overall, the highest approval rating for a Democrat in the tracker.  

Nearly 9 in 10 Democrats expressed approval for the governor (87 percent), and nearly half of Republicans concurred (46 percent). 

Democrats are readying for a difficult off-year election this year as Beshear seeks a second term of the Kentucky governorship in the red state, which Trump won by more than 25 points in 2020.

Beshear and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) were the only two Democrats to make it into the top 10 on the Morning Consult list.  

Oregon Democrat comes in last place 

Former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown speaks in San Francisco, on Oct. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Oregon’s former Gov. Kate Brown (D) clocked in as the nation’s least popular governor, with just 35 percent approving of her leadership and 59 percent disapproving. 

Her approval rating is a full 10 percentage points below Ducey in the second-to-last slot (at 45 percent approval). 

Brown stepped away from the governorship due to term limits in the state and was replaced this week when liberal Democrat Tina Kotek was sworn in to the position after a tough midterm race.

Brown pulled in dismal approval ratings during her last term as governor as Oregonians protested her response to the COVID-19 pandemic and issues like homelessness in the state.  

The margin of error for the Morning Consult results, which surveyed registered voters in each state, was plus or minus 4 percentage points in Vermont, 2 percentage points in Oregon and 1 percentage point in both Arizona and in Kentucky.