Gov. Sam Brownback rode a popularity bounce in a new poll of more than 1,000 Kansans to escape the cellar among the nation’s 50 governors.

Crumbling political fortunes of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who campaigned heavily in Kansas for Brownback during 2014, pushed the former transition team leader for President Donald Trump to the bottom of the pile in the latest Morning Consult poll.

Christie, struggling to sidestep the "Bridgegate" fiasco, had a disapproval rating of 71 percent. Brownback’s disapproval mark was 66 percent, a slight improvement over the last comparable poll by the Washington, D.C., company. The percentage of Kansans disenchanted with Brownback equaled that of Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, but Malloy had a slightly better approval rating than Brownback.

The poll’s bottom three governors in approval ratings: Christie, 25 percent; Brownback, 27 percent; Malloy, 29 percent.

"The reason he’s 49th of 50? What he’s lost is many people in his own party. In Kansas, that’s moderate Republicans," said Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University in Topeka.

The opinion of Brownback among Kansans participating in the online polling is interesting given Trump’s 244,000-vote margin of victory over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in November.

Morning Consult gathered input on U.S. governors from January to March to produce the latest results. The March cutoff might explain why newly ex-Gov. Robert Bentley, of Alabama, had a disapproval rating of 48 percent, only the 10th worst in the United States and an upgrade from 51 percent disapproval last fall. He resigned Monday as Alabama’s governor amid a sex scandal that took him to the brink of impeachment.

Other struggling chief executives — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, of Flint water fame; and Maine Gov. Paul LaPage, who made racially insensitive remarks — improved their standing between the two polls by Morning Consult. Snyder’s latest disapproval number was 54 percent, seven points better. LaPage was at 49 percent disapproval, an upgrade of nine points.

Based on surveys pointing to Brownback’s diminished support in the deep-red state and outcome of the 2016 elections in which moderates made gains in the Legislature, Brownback appears to be caught in a political crossfire on budget, tax, school finance and Medicaid policy. The 2017 Legislature and Brownback have been thrust into debates on each of these topics.

Brownback’s decisions to veto a bill in February raising state income taxes and to reject a bill in March that would expand eligibility for Medicaid led to attempts by the House and Senate to secure two-thirds majorities necessary to override the governor.

Beatty said the governor’s favorable-unfavorable ratings of 66 percent to 27 percent came close to reflecting outcome of the Legislature’s voting on the overrides. On the tax bill, 68 percent of the House and 60 percent of the Senate voted for an override. With Medicaid expansion, 61.8 percent of the House endorsed an override, ending debate on that motion.

Nearly two-thirds of the House was ready to override the governor on Medicaid and nearly two-thirds of the Senate was in the same place on taxes.

"What’s remarkable about these poll numbers is it’s almost identical to the Legislature’s votes on the tax bill and Medicaid," Beatty said.

Based on the Morning Consult survey, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is No. 1 among the nation’s governors. Three-fourths of that state’s residents approve of Baker’s work. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is a close second at 73 percent.