About half of Louisiana voters -- including 67 percent of Democrats, 43 percent of independents and 38 percent of Republicans — approve of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ job performance as he heads into what’s expected to be a tough re-election battle this fall, according to a new poll.

Morning Consult, a media and technology company that regularly ranks governors based on polling in all 50 states, found in its latest survey that Edwards has a 49 percent approval rating, while 30 percent of voters surveyed disapproved of his job performance and 21 percent were undecided.

The latest favorability poll comes just months before voters will decide whether to give Edwards, the only governor in the Deep South who is a Democrat, a second term in office.

Two Republicans -- U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, of Alto, and Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone – have already announced plans to challenge Edwards for the job. The election is Oct. 12. A Nov. 16 runoff will take place between the top two vote-getters if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary.

+3 5 takeaways from meet and greet with Eddie Rispone, Republican candidate for governor Baton Rouge businessman and Republican candidate for governor Eddie Rispone took part in a meet and greet event in Baton Rouge Tuesday night, …

The latest marks are up from Edwards' showing in the same outlet's poll findings released in October, when 47 percent of respondents viewed him favorably to 34 percent unfavorably.

Edwards’ favorability in Morning Consult’s quarterly polling reached a peak in the second quarter of 2017, in a survey that had Edwards at 58 percent favorable to 29 percent unfavorable, with 14 percent undecided.

John Bel Edwards, competitor report millions in the bank as 2019 race heats up The Louisiana governor's race is shaping up to be one of the state's most expensive elections to date — with campaigns reporting millions in t…

The country's top 10 governors, according to Morning Consult's survey, included just one Democrat. They are: Republican Govs. Charlie Baker (Massachusetts), Larry Hogan(Maryland), Kay Ivey (Alabama), Chris Sununu (New Hampshire), Matt Mead (Wyoming), Phil Scott (Vermont), Dennis Daugaard (South Dakota), Asa Hutchinson (Arkansas) and Greg Abbott (Texas) in the 1-9 spots, and Democratic Gov. David Ige of Hawaii at No. 10.

Edwards ranked 25th, tied with Colorado’s John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who left office this week after he had reached his term limit.

+2 Gov. John Bel Edwards cozies up to Trump, preaches bipartisanship on re-election campaign Gov. John Bel Edwards is walking a thin line. The only Democratic governor in the Deep South is attempting a re-election bid in a state that s…

The bottom 10 governors were all Republicans, with Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallon coming in last with a 72 percent disapproval rating.

Morning Consult surveyed 416,841 registered voters nationwide conducted online from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, asking each about views of their state's governor, to compile a ranking of all the nation's governors. The margin of error in Louisiana's findings is 1 percentage point.