Susana Martinez ranked sixth least popular governor in United States
It's a different world for Gov. Susana Martinez, who used to fend off questions about whether she was interested in the No. 2 spot on the national Republican ticket. Now Martinez is the sixth least popular governor in the country, according to a poll released Tuesday.
Research by the firm Morning Consult shows the two-term Republican's approval rating has fallen to 37 percent from 44 percent in July. The share of New Mexico voters who disapprove of Martinez's job performance has climbed from 45 percent to 52 percent.
And it might get worse for Martinez.
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As she approaches her final year in office, Democrats control the Legislature, meaning she will have little chance to get any of her agenda approved.
Moreover, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, the likely Republican nominee in the 2018 gubernatorial race, is trying to distance himself from Martinez.
But the polling also seems to reflect a frustration with the nation's leaders in general.
The approval ratings of nearly every U.S. senator have fallen, including the two Democrats representing New Mexico.
Sen. Tom Udall's approval rating fell from 53 percent in July to 45 percent in October while his disapproval rating rose from 27 percent to 31 percent.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, who's running for re-election next year, had an approval rating in July of about 48 percent. That fell to 45 percent and his disapproval rating rose 1 point to 31 percent.
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Still, Martinez is unusual in ranking among the least popular governors in the country, according to the company that compiled the 50-state online poll that included more than 255,000 registered voters between July 1 and Sept. 30. The company polled 1,267 voters in New Mexico over those three months.
"Most governors across the country are seeing their approval numbers drop this year, but she's fairing particularly poorly," said Kyle Dropp, Morning Consult's chief research officer. "Since the first quarter of 2017, Martinez's approval has dropped by 10 net percentage points. The average governor's approval has dropped by 5 net percentage points."
Other second-term governors in the West have done much better than Martinez.
Brian Sandoval, Nevada's Republican governor, is wrapping up his penultimate year in office with an approval rating above 60 percent. Matt Mead and Dennis Daugaard, the Republican governors of Wyoming and South Dakota, respectively, have been in office as long as Martinez and are riding approval ratings of 59 percent.
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Martinez is not quite in the territory of the man Morning Consult says is the country's least popular governor, Chris Christie, of New Jersey. Seventy-seven percent of voters surveyed in the Garden State disapprove of his job performance.
This has been a tumultuous year for Martinez, however.
She gutted the budget approved by legislators earlier this year, forcing a special session by scrapping funding for all colleges and universities, among other things.
Though she eventually signed a spending plan, the state's finances are still recovering after budget deficits in recent years that forced cuts across government.
If Morning Consult's least popular governors have anything in common, it is budget troubles. Polling worse than Martinez in their respective states are Illinois' Bruce Rauner and Kansas' Sam Brownback — both of whom have battled their legislatures over spending.
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New Mexico's economy is showing signs of improvement, however, with the overall poverty rate falling slightly in 2016 and the unemployment rate inching downward.
But this comes after what some economists have labeled a lost decade for the state, with New Mexico lagging behind much of the country.
Meanwhile, crime is on the rise, particularly in Albuquerque. Martinez already has signaled she will make this a central issue in the 30-day legislative session that starts in January.
The question will be whether the looming election season and what is expected to be a tight budget lead to another partisan feud.
Contact Andrew Oxford at 505-986-3093 or aoxford@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter @andrewboxford.