Malloy is next-to-last in new national poll

Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Malloy is next-to-last in new national poll 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

HARTFORD — Whatever Gov. Dannel P. Malloy had been intending for a costume Tuesday night when he and his wife, Cathy, greet hobgoblins and other treat-or-treaters at the Governor’s Residence, he may want to reconsider.

A new Morning Consult Poll Tuesday of senators and governors finds that in the latter category, the second-term Democrat is at 23-percent, second-lowest in the nation. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker ranks at the top with a whopping 69 percent approval rating, exactly three times higher than Malloy in the national survey of more than a quarter million people.

But if Malloy really wants to scare the kids at the door, he should consider acquiring a mask of his former arch political enemy from New Jersey, Chris Christie, who is checking in with a rock-bottom 18-percent approval. Now that’s scary. Malloy is apparently reaching a new low, with the drop of a point since the Quinnipiac University Poll of June, 2016, found him at 24 percent.

Morning Consult and the online Politico news site partner up for polls. Politico also publishes a twice-a-day email newsletter called Politico Playbook.

Just ahead of Malloy in the new poll in Kanasa Gov. Sam Brownback, at 24 percent, whose tenure was marked by a clear repudiation of his attempt at trickle-down economics. His massive tax cuts left Kansas education systems stranded and the state legislature recently restored taxes that Brownback had eliminated.

The treats were to be doled out at the Governor’s Residence, 990 Prospect Avenue, near Elizabeth Park in Hartford, starting at 5:30 Tuesday. Maybe the scariest costume with which to confront Malloy would include a Charlie Baker mask.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT