Gov. Bob Ferguson’s approval rating brought low by budget, taxes, new poll shows
On his first day in office, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson banged the drum for bipartisanship and reform. But a new poll suggests that his middle-of-the-road approach might be backfiring.
The Cascade PBS/Elway poll published on July 28 found that the Democrat’s first approval rating is the lowest six-month gubernatorial job rating in more than 30 years. It hasn’t been this low since 1993, when then-Democratic Gov. Mike Lowry was in office.
Just 32% of voters said they’d classify Ferguson’s first half-year as “good” or “excellent,” Cascade PBS reports. Putting it into perspective, that’s eight points, 11 points and 20 points lower than then-Govs. Jay Inslee, Christine Gregoire and Gary Locke in their first six months, respectively.
Another 22% rated Ferguson’s job so far as “fair,” and 31% labeled it as “poor.”
The poll surveyed 403 registered voters statewide between July 7 and 11, 43% of whom said they consider themselves Democrats. Another 38% said they’re independent and 19% said they’re Republicans.
Of voters not happy with Ferguson, 59% pointed to his approval of new taxes and the way that he dealt with the state budget.
Still, Ferguson wasn’t the only one getting negative reactions. Very few respondents were happy with state lawmakers, with just 1% saying the Legislature is doing an “excellent” job and 34% rating its work as “poor.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2025 at 4:58 AM.
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