Republican senators' approval ratings are plummeting

While nearly all senators saw a drop in their popularity in the third quarter of this year, GOP lawmakers took the biggest hit.
Republicans made up eight of the 10 least popular senators in the country and 18 of the 25 whose ratings dropped the most between July and October.

Nearly all senators saw a drop in their popularity during the third quarter of 2017, but GOP lawmakers took the biggest hit, according to a new Morning Consult poll.

Of the 25 senators whose approval ratings fell the most, 18 are Republicans and seven are Democrats. And of the 10 most unpopular senators, just two are Democrats, one of whom, New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, is facing federal corruption charges.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, all Republicans, saw their net approval ratings among GOP voters fall 40 points, 31 points, and 25 points, respectively. All three lawmakers broke at various points from President Donald Trump and GOP leadership on the party's attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare.

But Collins' overall approval rating remains high at 62% and the moderate Republican lawmaker is the fourth most popular in the country. Murkowski, who, with Collins, voted against every proposed GOP healthcare bill, saw a 6-point drop in her overall approval rating since July, to 49%, and a one-point increase in her disapproval rating, to 38%.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, held on to their positions as the least popular and most popular senators in the country, respectively. McConnell grew even more unpopular with his constituents during the third quarter of this year, sinking 15 points below his already dismal ratings.

The poll, which surveyed 255,120 registered voters in 50 states from July 1 to September 30, was conducted during the GOP's unsuccessful and deeply unpopular efforts to pass a healthcare bill.

Meanwhile, Trump's approval rating hit a new low on Sunday.

According to a new survey by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, just 38% of Americans approve of Trump's job performance, compared to 58% who disapprove. The poll found that Trump's support had cratered specifically with a key constituency that has dropped in other recent polls — white people without a college degree.

Among the cohort, just 51% said they approve of Trump's job performance, compared to the 58% who said they approved last month.

Max Tani contributed to this report.

Republican senators' approval ratings are plummeting

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