WASHINGTON — Morning Consult just released its first quarterly approval ratings of 2019 for U.S. governors and, well, it doesn’t look good for Hawaii Gov. David Ige.
According to the poll, which surveys 5,000 registered voters across the country, Ige is one of the least popular governors in the country with an approval rating of 47% and a disapproval rating of 36%.
While that’s enough to put Ige in the bottom 10 it’s not enough to beat out Kentucky Gov. Matt Biven, a Republican, whose approval rating was 33% to 52% disapproval.

Still, Ige’s approval rating this quarter is an improvement from last year when he reached peak unpopularity after a false missile alert that sent shivers of fear throughout the islands.
At that time Ige’s approval rating was a whole 10 points lower to 37% while his disapproval was 49%.
Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, on the other hand, received some good news from the Morning Consult poll. His approval rating of 52% combined with a low disapproval of 25% put him in the top 10 among his peers.
Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator who’s running for president in 2020, was the poll’s most popular senator with 62% approval to 32% disapproval.
Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono’s approval rating, meanwhile, dipped below 50% for the first time since 2017. The poll showed that 47% percent of registered voters approved of the job Hirono was doing while 34% disapproved.
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About the Author
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Nick Grube is a reporter for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at nick@civilbeat.org or follow him on Twitter at @nickgrube. You can also reach him by phone at 808-377-0246.