Poll: Raimondo is nation's most unpopular governor

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo is the least-popular governor in the United States, according to an online poll.

The second-term Democrat's job performance is viewed unfavorably by 56% of registered voters, according to website Morning Consult, the most negative response during her time in office and the highest in the country. Only 36% of poll respondents, surveyed between July 1 and Sept. 30, viewed her favorably.

Raimondo's latest Morning Consult approval-disapproval numbers fell from the second quarter of the year, when she was 17 percentage points underwater (38% to 55%) and was the second-most-unpopular governor, above Republican Matt Bevin of Kentucky. While Raimondo's popularity declined in the third quarter, Bevin's saw modest improvement, from 32% approval and 56% disapproval to 34% approval and 53% disapproval.

A significant difference between the governors of Rhode Island and Kentucky: Bevin is running for reelection next year and Raimondo is term-limited and cannot campaign again in 2022. As chairwoman of the Democratic Governors Association, Raimondo is trying to help unseat Bevin next year.

Although these are the worst numbers she's posted since taking office, Raimondo has never been popular in Morning Consult's surveys, even when she breezed to reelection last year.

Her best numbers in the poll were in the summer of 2018, when 44% of respondents approved of her job performance and 46% disapproved.

Raimondo spokesman Josh Block provided this email response to the Morning Consult numbers:

"Today we saw another month of jobs data with over half a million jobs in our state and unemployment at a 30-year low. We’ve provided thousands of students with access to high-quality Pre-K and tuition-free college. And we’ve helped trained over 6,200 Rhode Islanders for high-wage jobs in today’s economy. These are the numbers the Governor cares about."

The jobs numbers Block referred to were for September, when the unemployment held steady at 3.6% and the number of Rhode Island-based jobs fell by 400 positions to 503,600.

Morning Consult says it surveyed 533,985 registered voters nationwide in the third quarter to determine its governor rankings.

On the other end of the popularity spectrum, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker again measured as the most popular governor in the country, with 73% approving of the Republican's work and 16% disapproving.