New Mexico’s Susana Martinez is one of the least popular governors in America with registered voters in her home state, a new poll says.
Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net
Gov. Susana Martinez
Popularity of New Mexico’s two U.S. senators, meanwhile, is hovering around 50 percent — with Tom Udall slightly above that mark and Martin Heinrich just below it, according to the survey.
Morning Consult, a national polling and news organization, tested the popularity of every governor and U.S. senator in the United States.
Martinez, a Republican, ranked as the ninth least popular governor among registered voters in his or her home state. The poll found that 43 percent of registered voters in New Mexico approve of the job Martinez is doing, while 48 percent disapprove. Approximately 8 percent said they didn’t know or had no opinion about Martinez’s job performance.
Martinez, whose popularity was higher earlier in her tenure, is bogged down in a fight with state lawmakers over budget issues that has included her implementing a hiring freeze and vetoing all funding for higher education, leaving the state’s colleges and universities in the difficult position of being unable to plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Martinez’s tenure as governor ends in 2018. She’s announced no future plans.
The ten most popular governors in the survey, all Republicans, had approval ratings of higher than 60 percent.
Meanwhile, Heinrich, a Democrat who is up for re-election next year, came in as the 19th least popular U.S. senator — out of 100 — among registered voters in his or her home state. Still, many more registered voters said they approve of the job Heinrich is doing — 48 percent — than the 31 percent who said they do not approve. Some 21 percent said they didn’t know or had no opinion.
Udall, a Democrat who isn’t up for re-election until 2020, came in as the 41st least popular U.S. senator among registered voters in his or her home state. But, like Heinrich, the number of people who said they approve of Udall’s job performance — 53 percent — was higher than the 31 percent who said they do not approve. Some 16 percent said they didn’t know or had no opinion.
The 10 U.S. senators with the highest approval ratings in the survey were all at 65 percent or greater. Topping the list was independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont at 75 percent. Also in the top 10 were four Democrats, four Republicans, and independent Angus King of Maine.
The online survey of 85,000 registered voters across the nation was conducted from January-March. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.