Gov. Susana Martinez’s approval rating remained among the worst in the nation at the end of 2017, according to a recent poll.
The poll finds that 57 percent of New Mexico voters disapprove of her job performance, compared to just 33 percent who approve. That disapproval number is the fifth-worst in the nation and two of the governors below her have since left office. Her approval rating, meanwhile, is seventh-worst among all governors polled.
Her job approval ratings in the last three months of 2017 also showed a drop from the previous ratings, released in October of last year. At that time, 52 percent disapproved of her job performance, compared to 37 percent who approved.
New Jersey Republican Chris Christie finished his time in office as the least-popular governor in the nation, with 76 percent of voters in his state disapproving of his job performance, compared to 19 percent who approved.
Martinez cannot run for a third consecutive term and is in her final year in office.
On the other end of the scale, Republican governors in Northeast Democratic states filled three of the top five spots with approval ratings of 63 percent or higher. Charlie Baker in Massachusetts, Larry Hogan in Maryland and Phil Scott in Vermont ranked first, second and fourth. Alabama Republican Kay Ivey ranked third, with Wyoming Republican Matt Mead filling out the top five.
The poll has a +/- 3 percentage point margin of error in New Mexico.
The poll, conducted between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 using an online system, polled 253,383 registered voters throughout the country.
