by Guy Page
Phil Scott, one of the winningest stock car races in Vermont history, knows what it’s like to be out in front by a comfortable margin.
Yesterday, Interactive Polls released the findings of its August-October poll numbers. Scott ranks first among popularity by a wide margin: 84% approve of his performance, 13% disapprove, according to a survey of Vermonters conducted by Morning Consult Political Intelligence.
The next closest was the governor of Wyoming, with 74%. New England apparently likes its governors – Chris Sununu of New Hampshire ranked fourth with 64%, and Ned Lamont of Connecticut eighth with 61%. Maura Healy of Massachusetts ranks 13th with a 59% approval rating. However, Rhode Island’s Dan McKee and Maine’s Janet Mills are both stuck in the back of the pack, at 44th and 34th respectively.
The poll results don’t offer explanations about why Vermonters approve or don’t approve. Vermont has no lack of problems and chronic crises: housing shortage, worker shortage, homelessness, suicide, growing violent crime, all connected with a burgeoning opioid epidemic. But it appears that, on the surface anyway, Scott isn’t the target of voter unhappiness about these problems.
Scott has not announced whether he will run for re-election, nor stated when he plans to make that announcement. Miro Weinberger of Burlington is considered likely to jump into the gubernatorial race on the Democratic ticket.
Asked at today’s press conference what it feels like to be the most popular governor in the nation, Scott was self-effacing. “It’s a snapshot in time,” he said. “I don’t put too much stock in it.”