Sen. Joe Manchin’s approval rating has soared in his home state of West Virginia compared to last year, a recent poll by Morning Consult shows. Manchin’s popularity jump comes after months of blocking of White House priorities.
According to the poll, 57% of voters approve of Manchin, compared to 40% in the first quarter of 2021. His approval rating saw the biggest improvement of any senator within the first quarter of this year.
Republicans, especially, found a lot to like about Manchin. According to the poll, his approval rating nearly doubled among those voters to 69% since the first quarter of 2021.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s approval rating has slid. In a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University in January, only 33% of people who took the survey approved the president’s performance, while 53% did not.
Manchin has made it difficult for Biden to get some of his agenda pushed through Congress.
Last December, Manchin refused to support the Build Back Better bill, the social safety net legislation that included many liberal priorities, such as free preschool, major climate change initiatives, and extending the child tax credit.
The bill required the support of all Democrats in the 50-50 Senate to move forward.
Manchin also opposed changing the Senate’s filibuster rule to help Biden to pass his voting rights legislation.
The poll took place during the first quarter of this year among registered voters from the first day of January until the last of day March and had a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
