Survey: Ohio and Kentucky governors are the most popular during the pandemic

CINCINNATI – In the eyes of their constituents, no governors have handled the novel coronavirus outbreak better than the governors of Ohio and Kentucky, according to a survey of 22,000 Americans conducted by Harvard, Northeastern and Rutgers Universities.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear ranked one and two in the survey released Thursday.

In Ohio, 84% of the Ohio respondents said they approved of DeWine's handling of the pandemic. Beshear came in a close second, with 81% of Kentuckians in the survey approving of his COVID-19 response.

In all 50 states, residents approved of their governor's handling more than they did President Donald Trump's. While Trump easily won Ohio and Kentucky in the 2016 presidential election, he lagged more than 30 percentage points behind their governors in approval when it came to his COVID-19 response.

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In Ohio and Kentucky, 51% of the respondents approved of the president's handling of the pandemic.

Overall across the country, 44% of the respondents said they disapproved of Trump's response while 66% approved of their governor's response.

"There is substantial agreement that the state governments of respondents are reacting properly," the researchers in the study noted.

The survey was conducted April 17-26. Ohio's results had a 4 percentage point margin of error, Kentucky's was 5 percentage points.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Survey: Mike DeWine and Andy Beshear have handled the coronavirus best