Nate Silver at 538.com made a list of the most popular governors in the country:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/gubernatorial-power-rankings-crist.htmlWho's the most popular governor in the land? A fairly well-informed observer might guess Jon Huntsman, Jr. of Utah (who won't be a governor for much longer), Charlie Crist of Florida or Sarah Palin of Alaska. Those would all be pretty good guesses, except for Palin, who was once extremely popular in Alaska, but no longer is. The answer, however, appears to be Governor Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming, who when his approval was last tested back in August, was viewed favorably by some 81 percent of voters.
What makes this more remarkable is that Freudenthal is a Democrat -- something which a only 26 percent of Wyoming voters are (52 percent are Republicans). On the other hand, Freudenthal has one big advantage: Wyoming is a small state, and as our own Andrew Gelman has noted, it seems to be much easier to maintain higher approval scores when you have fewer constituents to please.
1. Dave Freudenthal (D-Wyoming)
2. Charlie Crist (R-Florida)
3. M. Jodi Rell (R-Connecticut)
4. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R-Utah)
5. Mike Beebe (D-Arkansas)
6. Mitch Daniels (R-Indiana)
7. John Lynch (D-New Hampshire)
8. Phil Bredesen (D-Tennessee)
9. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio)
10. Rick Perry (R-Texas)
11. Bobby Jindal (R-Louisiana)
12. Brad Henry (D-Oklahoma)
13. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota)
14. Pat Quinn (D-Illinois)
15. Jay Nixon (D-Missouri)
16. Linda Lingle (R-Hawaii)
17. Dave Heineman (R-Nebraska)
18. Jack Markell (D-Delaware)
19. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia)
20. Ed Rendell (D-Pennsylvania)
21. Sonny Perdue (R-Georgia)
22. Brian Schweitzer (D-Montana)
23. Bob Riley (R-Alabama)
24. Jan Brewer (R-Arizona)
25. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minnesota)
26. Jim Douglas (R-Vermont)
27. Mark Sanford (R-South Carolina)
28. Joe Manchin III (D-West Virginia)
29. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kansas)
30. Steve Beshear (D-Kentucky)
31. Martin O'Malley (D-Maryland)
32. Chet Culver (D-Iowa)
33. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-California)
34. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota)
35. Beverly Perdue (D-North Carolina)
36. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska)
37. Bill Ritter (D-Colorado)
38. Haley Barbour (R-Mississippi)
39. John Corzine (D-New Jersey)
40. John Baldacci (D-Maine)
41. Ted Kulongoski (D-Oregon)
42. Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico)
43. Christine Gregoire (D-Washington)
44. Butch Otter (R-Idaho)
45. Jim Doyle (D-Wisconsin)
46. Donald Carcieri (R-Rhode Island)
47. Jennifer Granholm (D-Michigan)
48. Deval Patrick (D-Massachusetts)
49. Jim Gibbons (R-Nevada)
50. David Peterson (D-New York)