Rhode Island Politician Report Card

-Rhode Island voters aren't real big on their new Governor. Lincoln Chafee has a 38% approval rating, with 44% of voters disapproving of him. Chafee's upside down numbers probably shouldn't come as any big surprise- he only won 36% of the vote in his three way race in November and his support now is pretty consistent with that. Only Democrats like the job he's doing, with 53% approving to 24% disapproving. Independents are negative on him by a 51/34 spread and what might be most striking is his standing with Republicans. Just 10% of them approve of him to 84% who disapprove. It's hard to believe he survived a GOP primary only five years ago.

-We've polled on all but three Democratic Senators in the country (Daniel Inouye, Kent Conrad, and Patrick Leahy) over the course of the last eight months and Jack Reed is at the top of the heap for popularity. 60% of Rhode Island voters approve of the job he's doing to 27% who disapprove, which allows him to narrowly displace Amy Klobuchar (59/29). Chuck Schumer has the bronze medal for Democrats at 57/35. The main thing that sets Reed apart from his colleagues is his high degree of support from independents, who are the most numerous voter group in Rhode Island. 56% of them approve of him to just 35% who disapprove. He also benefits from a mostly unified party base at 78/9 with Democrats.

-Frank Caprio, the losing Democratic candidate for Governor last fall, doesn't look to have much of a political future. It's bad for him that only 29% of voters have a favorable opinion of him to 46% with a negative one. But even worse is where he stands with Democrats- only 33% have a positive view of him while 42% profess an unfavorable one. He'd have a hard time even winning a primary election for some office in the future.

-Looking for Rhode Island's next Senator? If it's going to be someone who's come up through the House ranks Jim Langevin appears to be the best bet. 50% of voters in the state have a favorable opinion of him to 29% with a negative one. That puts him a good deal ahead of former Rep. Patrick Kennedy whose favorability is 43/47 and even further ahead of Kennedy's successor David Cicilline who breaks down quite poorly at 34/47. Kennedy is actually slightly more popular than Langevin with Democrats- 67% rating him positively compared to 62% for his former colleague. But where Langevin is popular with independents (47/34), Kennedy is most decidedly not (32/58.)

Full results here