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| Photo Credit: AP. |
The approval rating of Sen. Joe Manchin tanked double digits in his home state of West Virginia as the midterms approaches, making him the most unpopular senator, the Washington Examiner cited a recent Morning Consult poll.
According to
the poll, 42% of registered voters approve of Manchin while 51% disapprove
after the senator lost support among Republicans and independents. A separate
poll in the first quarter of 2022 showed his approval rating was close to 60%
while his disapproval rating was less than 40%, according to the Washington
Examiner. The trend could be down to Manchin’s support for some of President
Joe Biden’s policy programs.
Among
independent voters, only 31% approve of the senator but his approval rating is
44% among Republican voters and 52% among Democratic voters. 52% of independents
disapprove of the senator as well as 53% of Republicans and 45% of Democrats
who also disapprove of Manchin.
The
Democratic senator had his approval rating substantially higher among
Republicans than among Democrats through most of the year.
Manchin
supported Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act which is expected to increase taxes
on large corporations with a particularly harmful impact on the coal industry
with higher taxes and potentially stricter regulations, according to the
Washington Examiner.
“Following a
quarter in which he played a pivotal role in the enactment of Democrats’
Inflation Reduction Act — a massive climate, health care and taxes measure —
Manchin saw a greater decline in his approval rating and a larger surge in
disapproval than any other Senate incumbent,” Morning Consult’s analysis noted,
according to the Washington Examiner. “That has dragged him to similar levels
of home-state support held by controversial senators such as Democrat Kyrsten
Sinema of Arizona and Republicans Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of
Alaska, all of whom are among America’s most unpopular senators.”
Manchin now ranks third in the guild of unpopular senators trailing Sen. Mitch McConnell in Kentucky with 63% disapproval and Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin with 55% of registered voters disapproving of him, according to the Washington Examiner.