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Justice, Manchin see slight bump in quarterly job approval numbers

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin speaks on Oct. 12 with reporters outside the newly renovated Amtrak train station in Charleston. (AP Photo)

CHARLESTON — After seeing a slight drop in job approval numbers, Gov. Jim Justice remains in the top 10 most popular governors with a modest improvement in his favorability numbers. But as U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin decides to seek a third term, he remains unpopular even with a bump in his numbers.

Morning Consult, a national survey and data firm, released its quarterly U.S. Senator and Governor Approval Ratings report Tuesday. The surveys were conducted between July 1 and Sept. 30 among a representative sample of registered voters in West Virginia with up to a 5% margin of error.

According to the quarterly report, 63% of respondents approved of Justice’s job performance as governor, with 30% disapproving and 8% unsure or have no opinion. Justice ranked as the sixth most popular governor in the nation and the fifth most popular Republican governor.

Despite numerous headlines since entering the U.S. Senate race in April about multiple financial issues with Justice’s businesses, lawsuits seeking millions of dollars and even helicopters and controversies surrounding several executive branch departments, Justice’s job approval numbers were a slight improvement over his second quarter numbers between April and June when Justice was at the bottom of the list for the nation’s top 10 most popular governors.

During the second quarter, 62% of respondents approved of Justice’s job performance as governor, with 33% expressing disapproval and 5% unsure or expressing no opinion. During Morning Consult’s first quarterly rankings covering the period of Jan. 1 and March 31, Justice ranked in the top 5 most popular governors with a 66% approval number and a 31% disapproval number.

Justice is second consecutive term as governor, being limited to two four-year terms. He was first elected as a Democrat in 2016, switched to Republican in 2017 and won re-election under the GOP banner in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to multiple polls, Justice is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, seeking the seat held by Manchin, D-W.Va. Justice is opposed by Mercer County resident Zane Lawhorn and U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va.

Manchin, who has served in the Senate since winning a special election in 2010 to succeed the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd and winning two six-year terms in 2012 and 2018, has not announced re-election plans for 2024. Manchin is expected to announce his future political intentions by the end of the year.

According to Morning Consult’s third quarter survey, 48% approve of Manchin’s job performance in the U.S. Senate, while 42% disapprove and 10% were unsure. Among Democratic incumbent senators, Manchin was the lone Democratic incumbent with negative net approval ratings.

However, Manchin’s third quarter numbers are an improvement over his second quarter and first quarter Morning Consult survey numbers. In the second quarter, 55% of respondents said they did not approve of Manchin’s job performance, with 39% saying they approved of Manchin’s job performance and 7% either unsure or had no opinion. Manchin’s first quarter job approval rating was 38% and his disapproval rating was 55% with 8% unsure or having no opinion.

Manchin’s approval numbers have been down ever since he backed President Joe Biden’s $737 billion Inflation Reduction Act in the summer of 2022. Morning Consult poll numbers between January-March 2022 after Manchin rejected the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better social spending bill proposed by Biden showed Manchin with a 57% job approval number and a 35% disapproval number.

The only potential primary challenger to Manchin in 2024 according to the Federal Election Commission is Mercer County Democrat Zachary Shrewsbury. The candidate filing period in West Virginia begins Jan. 8 and ends Jan. 27.

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