Sandoval among the nation’s most popular governors, poll shows

CARSON CITY — He may not be running for political office in 2016, but Gov. Brian Sandoval is weighing in on races and ballot measures. His latest popularity rating may help in those efforts.

Sandoval, who’s amid his second and final term as governor, had the fifth-lowest disapproval rating among governors at 21 percent, a survey by Morning Consult, a Washington-based politics and polling publication, shows.

His approval rating was 62 percent; seven governors had higher approval ratings.

The remainder of those surveyed didn’t know or had no opinion of Sandoval’s performance.

The overall rankings were based on the disapproval ratings for the governors.

First in the disapproval ranking was Republican Sam Brownback of Kansas at 71 percent, followed by Democrat Dan Malloy of Connecticut at 70 percent and Republican Chris Christie of New Jersey at 68 percent.

The group surveyed 71,900 registered voters in all 50 states from early May through early September. Survey respondents were asked whether they approved or disapproved of their governor’s job performance.

While Sandoval is not in a race himself, he is supporting a number of Republican candidates for public office, including members of the Legislature, where the GOP is trying to hold onto the majority for the 2017 session. He is also speaking out against Question 1, the gun background check measure, and Question 2, which would legalize recreational marijuana.

Sandoval will also be able to use his popularity to push through his legislative agenda next year.

He has lost some of his mojo, the Morning Consult survey shows. His rankings were 66 percent favorable and 20 percent unfavorable in the 2015 survey.

The survey has a margin of error of 4 percentage points with 755 responding.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @seanw801 on Twitter.