Nat'l Polling Data
Western Governors Largely Popular
By Matt Singer, 5-10-05
SurveyUSA, a firm that uses touchtone polling, has released polls regarding voter approval of all 50 Governors, with a number of Western Governors showing quite strong numbers.Dave Freudenthal, D-Wyoming, clocked in at the top of the region (and third most popular in the nation) with a 67% approval rating (20% disapprove). John Huntsman, R-Utah, came in close behind (5th in the nation) with a 64-21% approval/disapproval rating.
Ratings for all Western Governors:
| State | Governor | + | - | Nat'l Rank |
| WY | Freudenthal (D) | 67% | 20% | 3rd |
| UT | Huntsman (R) | 64% | 21% | 5th |
| AZ | Napolitano (D) | 59% | 32% | 8th |
| MT | Schweitzer (D) | 58% | 27% | 11th |
| CO | Owens (R) | 54% | 38% | 14th |
| ID | Kempthorne (R) | 54% | 33% | 15th |
| NV | Guinn (R) | 54% | 34% | 19th |
| NM | Richardson (D) | 54% | 39% | 20th |
Clearly, by Western, I meant dryland West. The average approval rating nationally is 48%, a figure all Western Governors outperformed. The average disapproval rating was 41%.
It is kind of ironic that the Western Governor mentioned most often for President in 2008 (um, other than Schweitzer) is the one with lowest approval ratings. I mean, he's still running well-ahead of the nation, but still, why not Napolitano? [End of article]