Washington state Gov. Ferguson's first approval rating lowest in more than 30 years

A new poll from Cascade PBS/Elway shows Washington voters are not pleased with the job Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, is doing six months into the job.

The poll of 403 registered voters from across the state, conducted from July 7 through July 11, shows Ferguson has the lowest job rating of any governor for the first six months in office, which is the worst rating since Gov. Mike Lowry in 1993

According to the poll, just 32% of respondents said Ferguson, a Democrat, was doing an “excellent” or “good” job, while more than half, 53%, gave him “only fair” or “poor” marks.

Republican Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, posted the poll results to X immediately, which elicited hundreds of responses.

“I find it absolutely hilarious that people are still trying to paint him as a ‘moderate.’ He's not. Not even close. He's more extreme on most topics than even Inslee was. Apparently, these people have no long-term memory capabilities,” one commenter said on the lawmaker’s social media post.

“I think people are waking up to the reality of what out-of-control government is in our state, and the frustration for them is probably compounded by the fact that they can look at other states and the costs coming down, right?” Corry asked during a Monday interview with The Center Square.

He went on to say, “There are $9 billion in new taxes over here for a supposed budget problem, yet, you know, our neighbors around us have lower gas prices, have [a] lower tax burden, have lower home prices, and I think people are waking up to the realities, and no matter how much the governor deflects on the Trump administration, the problems that Washington faces have nothing to do with the other Washington and have nothing to do with President [Donald] Trump.”

The Center Square emailed the office of Gov. Ferguson to comment on the poll results and received the following response via email from Communications Director Brionna Aho.

“The governor has inherited significant challenges,” she wrote. “He’s not focused on polls; he’s focused on standing up to the Trump Administration, making Washington more affordable and keeping our communities safe.”

Corry didn’t buy it.

“For the governor to cast blame on a boogeyman in D.C. is just disingenuous, and it shows how little he cares about actually governing, which is really disappointing, because when he came into office, he came in to reform government, and if he's here to reform government, he's certainly off to a rough start,” the state representative said.

Corry said early during the 2025 legislative session that Republican leaders were encouraged by Ferguson's statements about keeping taxes down and reining in government spending.

“It really obviously shows that he can't stand up to his own party, even though that’s what he said he was gonna do. And so, after being unable to provide leadership to Washington state Democrats, he turned again to President Trump, just like he did when he was attorney general for political points and posturing,” Corry said. "And what most people in Washington state need now is real solutions for the state, not political pandering and theater for the sake of media clips and deflecting from your own failures.”