Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D. WV) is seeing his approval soar in his home state of West Virginia compared to 2021, according to a recent poll by Morning Consult. The jump in Manchin’s popularity comes after months of his obstructing and blocking the Biden White House’s agenda and priorities.
The Poll shows that 57% of voters approve of the moderate/conservative Democrat, compared to only 40% in the first quarter of last year, marking the biggest improvement of any senator within the first quarter of 2022.
Republicans in particular found a lot to like about Joe Manchin, with his approval rating nearly doubling among them to nearly 70% since the first quarter of 2021.
President Joe Biden’s approval rating has slid in the same time period. A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed that only 33% of people surveyed approved of the president’s performance, with 53% disapproving.
Manchin has made a habit of obstructing Biden’s agenda in congress, most notably his refusal to support the Build Back Better bill last December, as well as climate change initiatives, extending the child tax credit, and other initiatives in the the social safety net legislation proposed by the Biden White House. The bill required the support of all Senate Democrats to move forward, so Manchin sank it with his vote. He has also been the primary obstructionist to changing the filibuster rule to help the President pass voting rights legislation.
The Morning Consult poll took place during the first quarter of this year among registered voters from January through March 2022, with a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
The same poll showed that Sens. John Thune (R. SD), John Barrasso (R. WY) and Bernie Sanders (I. VT) were the most favorably viewed Senators in their state, with each at 62% approval. Conversely, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. KY) was viewed least favorably, with over 60 percent of voters in his state disapproving of his job performance.
