The FINANCIAL — President Donald Trump, who has averaged 40% job approval since his inauguration, received approval ratings of 50% or higher in 17 states in the first half of 2017. Residents in an equal number of states gave him approval ratings below 40%. In 16 states, his ratings ranged between 40% and 49%.
Consistent with the broader geographic patterns of Republican strength across the country, some of Trump’s highest approval ratings tend to be in Southern, Plains and Mountain West states. His lowest ratings are primarily in Northeast and West Coast states, according to Gallup.
The results are based on Gallup Daily tracking from Jan. 20 through June 30, including interviews with more than 81,000 U.S. adults. Gallup interviewed at least 220 residents in each state during this period, including 500 or more in 39 states. Gallup weighted each state sample to ensure it is demographically representative of the adult population. The full results for each state are included at the end of the article.
During the Jan. 20-June 30 time period, residents in West Virginia (60%), North Dakota (59%) and South Dakota (57%) gave Trump his highest approval ratings. Montana, Wyoming and Alabama all had average approval ratings of 55% or higher.
Residents in Vermont and Massachusetts gave Trump his lowest average approval ratings — both below 30% — with Maryland, California, and New York close behind at 30% or 31%.
Trump largely owed his victory in the 2016 presidential election to his wins in three key Rust Belt states — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — that had not backed a Republican for president since the 1980s. In these states, his January-June approval ratings were just slightly above his overall average of 40%, including 43% in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and 42% in Michigan.
Bottom Line
Trump’s time in office has been filled with controversy, including his executive orders on immigration, his firing of FBI Director James Comey, ongoing questions about the Trump campaign’s ties with Russia, and his continued flouting of political decorum. Trump and the Republican majority have yet to achieve many of their hoped-for policy goals, including repeal of the Affordable Care Act and tax reform. Through it all, at least half of the residents in 17 states approved of the job he was doing. But in just as many states, his approval rating was in the 30% range, if not lower.
Trump is hardly a conventional politician, but his patterns of support at the state level mostly reflect traditional Republican-Democrat differences. Although 2020 is a long way off, for him to successfully win re-election, historical patterns suggest his overall 40% rating would need to rise closer to 50%. He would also need to shore up his support in the key Rust Belt states that delivered the Electoral College win to him. In those states, his job approval is slightly above 40%, but barely so, raising questions of whether he can carry them in 2020.
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