McConnell is America’s least popular senator by a wide margin: poll

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is the least popular senator in the U.S., according to a new Morning Consult poll, with the Kentucky lawmaker alone in the upper chamber with a disapproval rating of more than 60 percent among his home-state voters. 

McConnell garnered a 64 percent disapproval rating in the survey, with an approval rating of only 28 percent. He was followed in unpopularity by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), with disapproval ratings of 55, 53 and 52 percent, respectively. The four are the only senators with disapproval ratings higher than 50 percent.

McConnell, 81, is not up for reelection until 2026 after winning reelection to his seventh term in 2020. Despite regularly polling at the bottom of senators in popularity, the GOP leader beat Democrat Amy McGrath, a retired Marine, by nearly 20 points in that race. 

On the other end of the popularity spectrum, eight senators had an approval rating of more than 60 percent. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) was the most popular with a 65 percent approval rating, followed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).

As the 2024 general election approaches, the polling on approval ratings for some of the most vulnerable senators shines a light on how difficult their path to reelection might be. 

The survey shows some vulnerable senators sit in considerably better positions than others ahead of possible reelection bids.

Manchin, who has not announced whether he will run for reelection, is looking significantly more vulnerable than Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), another vulnerable Democrat who has already said he will try to keep his seat in 2024. 

Tester had a 58 percent approval rating compared to Manchin’s 38 percent, making him one of the top 10 most popular senators. Tester also had 42 percent approval among voters who disapprove of President Biden, compared to 34 percent for Manchin — a potentially significant figure in a presidential election year.  

The polling from Morning Consult was conducted between the beginning of January and the end of March, with representative samples of registered voters in each state. The margins of error for each state ranged from 1 percent to 6 percent. 

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