Sen. Orrin Hatch currently gets some of the lowest approval ratings from his constituents in the country according to a new nationwide poll, but he’s still not underwater.
Morning Consult polled residents in all 50 states to gauge the job approval for every U.S. Senator. They found:
- Sen. Orrin Hatch has a 41% disapproval rating, which is the 5th highest in the nation. However, 46% of Utahns approve of his job performance, which gives him a net approval rating of +5. 13% said they had no opinion. Hatch’s disapproval ratings sat at 38% in the July Morning Consult survey, while his approval rating was 52%.
- 52% of Utahns approve of Sen. Mike Lee’s job performance, while 30% disapprove, giving him a net approval rating of +22. 18% of Utahns said they had no opinion. Lee’s approval ratings are also down slightly from the July survey, when Morning Consult found 54% of Utahns approved of Lee’s job performance and 29% disapproved.
A UtahPolicy.com survey from September found 45% of Utahns approved of Hatch’s job performance, while 50% disapproved, which left him with a net approval rating of -5%.
The same poll gave Lee a 51% job approval rating while 38% disapproved, leaving him with a net approval of +13%.
Hatch’s approval ratings have been dropping recently as he has failed to make a firm commitment as to whether he’ll run for another term in 2018 or not. Hatch had promised that 2012 would be his last election, but he has been hinting that he plans to run again next year if his health holds up. A recent Salt Lake Tribune poll showed nearly 80% of Utahns do not want Hatch to run for an eighth term next year.
However, recent reports suggest Hatch has been telling close confidants that he plans to retire next year which would allow former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to run for his seat.
The Morning Consult survey found Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders with the highest approval rating at 71%. Vermont’s Patrick Leahy, Nort Dakota’s John Hoeven, Maine’s Susan Collins and Maine’s Angus King rounded out the top five “most popular” senators.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was the “least popular” senator with 55% of his constituents disapproving of his job performance. Arizona’s Jeff Flake, who recently announced his retirement was at 48% disapproval. Arizona’s John McCain, New Jersey’s Robert Menendez, and Hatch made up the rest of the bottom five. Menendez is currently is facing federal bribery charges.
