Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) approval rating has increased in his home state despite outrage from progressives for blocking parts of President Joe Biden’s agenda.
According to a Morning Consult poll released on Monday, 57% of voters in West Virginia approve of Manchin’s performance, up from 40% during the same period last year.
Morning Consult’s Eli Yokley wrote, “Sen. Joe Manchin has faced the wrath of progressives nationwide during Joe Biden’s presidency for killing a range of domestic agenda items on voting rights, social spending programs and climate change.”
“But at home in West Virginia, Morning Consult Political Intelligence data suggests the moderate Democrat knows exactly what he’s doing,” he added.
The polling outlet notes that was “the biggest increase of any senator over that time frame.”
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) saw the second-largest improvement in his approval rating, followed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
Over the past year, @Sen_JoeManchin has seen the largest job approval rating improvement of any senator. https://t.co/va81PbHn4K pic.twitter.com/3KjDyLReKA
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) April 25, 2022
“Manchin’s double-digit approval rating improvement over the course of Biden’s tenure is a rarity when compared with other incumbents: Just three of them — John Thune (R-S.D.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) — have seen comparable improvement in their standing,” the pollster noted.
It added, “Where Murkowski saw upticks among independents and Republicans, Thune received improved marks across the board and Padilla’s standing got better due to more voters becoming aware of him, Manchin’s boost stands out due to the dramatic shift in the coalition supporting him, which has reddened to a staggering extent.”
Additionally, it explained that Manchin has seen a boost in his approval rating because of Republicans.
Sixty-nine percent of Republicans approve of his job performance compared to 35% last year.
However, 44% of Democrats approve of his performance which is down from 63% last year.
According to Morning Consult, Manchin is the eighth most popular senator in the country.
The poll was conducted from Jan. 1 to Mar. 31, 2022.
In December, Manchin revealed that he would vote against Biden’s Build Back Better social spending package.
“I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation, I just can’t. I tried everything humanly possible, I can’t get there,” he told Fox News.
And in January, he voted against an effort to change the filibuster rules and pave the way for Democrats to pass voting rights legislation without any Republican votes.
