How does Gavin Newsom's approval compare to other US governors?
Executive summary
Gavin Newsom’s approval in California sits in the mid-40s to low-50s depending on the poll, a recovery from deeper lows earlier in 2025 and a recent uptick that Morning Consult identified as the largest net increase among Democratic governors [1] [2] [3]. Relative to governors nationwide, available tracking shows Newsom’s rebound is notable but not a definitive categorical ranking because comprehensive head-to-head approval lists for every governor are not contained in the supplied reporting [3].
1. Where he stands today: mid‑40s in many polls, majority in some state surveys
Multiple recent California surveys put Newsom’s job approval in the mid‑40s: Emerson reported 44% in August 2025 and 47% in a separate Emerson release cited in 2026 coverage [1] [4], while the Public Policy Institute of California found majorities in some samples — 52% of adults and 55% of likely voters approved in a PPIC snapshot and a December PPIC report showed 54–56% approval for adults and likely voters respectively [5] [2]. Independent outlets summarized a roughly 10‑point improvement over six months in late‑2025 reporting based on PPIC and other polls [6].
2. How that compares with other governors: a standout rebound among Democrats
Morning Consult’s national governor approval tracker singled out Newsom’s home‑state net approval as rising 8 points since early 2025, the largest increase recorded among Democratic governors in their dataset — positioning him as an outlier on the upside within his party even as other Democratic governors register a wide range of fortunes [3]. That same Morning Consult reporting also lists several governors at the other end of the popularity scale — noting Maine’s Janet Mills and incumbents such as Dan McKee, Greg Abbott, and Tim Walz among the less popular — which frames Newsom’s improvement as meaningful relative momentum though not necessarily the single most popular governor overall [3].
3. Polling nuance: partisan splits and methodological spread
Newsom’s approval is deeply polarized by party: PPIC found 79% of Democrats approve while only 9% of Republicans do, with independents in the middle (43% in PPIC’s analysis) — underscoring that headline approval figures mask stark partisan divisions that also make cross‑state comparisons tricky [5]. Different poll sponsors and likely‑voter versus adult samples explain variation between Emerson, PPIC, UCI‑OC and other polls cited by outlets, accounting for reported figures ranging roughly from the low‑40s to low‑50s across 2025–2026 snapshots [1] [5] [7].
4. Media comparisons and national favorability context
Nationally oriented pieces have compared Newsom’s net ratings to figures for other national politicians and presidents, with Newsweek noting a net approval in some national polling around minus‑10 while President Trump registered minus‑15 in the same dataset — a useful barometer of Newsom’s standing outside California though different from his state job approval [8]. YouGov placement as one of the more popular Democrats in their rankings offers another slice of comparison but reflects favorability rather than governor‑job approval specifically [9].
5. What this means politically — momentum, limits, and open questions
The data indicate tangible momentum: a documented bounce that Morning Consult calls the largest among Democratic governors and PPIC’s uptick narratives that several outlets summarized as a significant mid‑2025 rebound [3] [6]. Yet practical implications are bounded by partisan polarization in California, poll methodology differences, and the absence in the provided sources of a single, up‑to‑date ranked list of every governor’s approval for a firm ordinal placement; therefore Newsom should be viewed as a governor who recovered ground relative to his own earlier numbers and compared favorably among fellow Democrats on recent tracking, but not definitively the most or least popular governor in the U.S. without broader comparative data [3] [5].