[A]fter Gov. Phil Scott’s approval rating took a major hit in the second quarter of 2018, his standing among Vermonters is making a recovery, the latest poll from Morning Consult shows.
Overall, Scott’s rating has climbed to 50 percent, after it saw a steep fall from 65 percent to 47 percent earlier this year.
Pollsters and Scott himself attributed the drop to his decision to sign sweeping gun control measures into law in April, a move that appeared to isolate the moderate Republican from many of his conservative supporters.
Scott’s approval rating, which showed a slight gain less than a month before the November elections, is still a far cry from what it was at the end of last year, when he was one of the most popular governors in the country.
Brittney Wilson, Scott’s campaign manager, pointed out that Morning Consult’s previous poll came out in July, on the heels of the gun vote and a legislative session that ended in a weeks-long budget standoff between lawmakers and the governor.
“I certainly felt like that timing for that poll reflected some of the most extreme emotions of the legislative session,” she said.
“I really do feel like the negative — or what most people would perceive to be negative — debates kind of overshadowed the good work that was being done,” Wilson said.
In recent months, the campaign has focused on touting Scott’s accomplishments in office, she said, including his efforts to prevent tax increases and cut taxes on Social Security benefits.
Rich Clark, a political science professor at Castleton University, said Scott’s rebound poses a hurdle for Democrat Christine Hallquist in her bid to unseat the incumbent.
“I think Hallquist would have hoped for something in the low 40s and would have to look at an approval rating at 50 percent and say ‘that’s tough on us, but it was already tough on us going in to the election,’” he said.
For its part, the Hallquist campaign says it is in no way disturbed by the latest poll, according to campaign manager Cameron Russell.
Russell said that a 3-point approval gain is not enough to make a “compelling case that he’s recovered” and pointed out that the poll only surveyed registered voters.
“To suggest that this is some kind of crazy rebound is, I would say, bending the results in a way that this poll is not suggesting,” he said. “For us, it doesn’t really tell us much.”
Vermonters are also among the most content constituents in the country with their senators, according to the Morning Consult poll.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, has the highest approval rating of any senator in the country — with 63 percent — while Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy is close behind him at 61 percent.
Those conducting the poll interviewed 739 Vermonters and put the margin of error at plus or minus 4 points.
