Sixth most unpopular governor in America
Alright, let’s drop the polite, laminated-newsroom tone and call this what it is.
According to new polling from Morning Consult, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek now ranks as the sixth most unpopular governor in the entire country. And honestly? That checks out.
Between October and December 2025, just 48% of Oregonians approved of Kotek’s performance, while 42% disapproved. Another 10% basically shrugged, which in Oregon politics might be the loudest statement of all. Only five governors nationwide managed to irritate their residents more.
For context, Kotek is sitting in the same neighborhood as governors from states that actually make the national news for chaos. That alone should make Oregon leadership uncomfortable. Instead, it feels like business as usual.
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Her disapproval peaked at 45% in early 2024, dipped briefly in mid-2025, and has now settled into a steady state of mediocrity. This is not a comeback story. This is stagnation with a podium.
Supporters will point to her “highest approval of her term” line, but that’s like bragging about getting a C- after failing the class twice. Meanwhile, the problems Oregonians actually live with every day haven’t improved in any meaningful way.
Housing is still a mess. Prices are brutal, supply is thin, and working families keep getting pushed further out while Salem pats itself on the back for “priorities.” Education continues to slide, with test scores and outcomes that should alarm anyone who cares about the state’s future. And then there’s the transportation package, a legislative faceplant so bad it triggered a successful referendum and sent lawmakers scrambling back to the whiteboard like they forgot to do the homework.
Instead of owning these failures, Kotek has leaned hard into national political theater. Lots of speeches. Lots of finger-wagging at Trump. Plenty of press releases about standing up to federal actions. Very little improvement in the daily lives of the people who actually live here and pay the bills.
Now she’s already launched her reelection campaign, despite polling that screams fatigue. Democratic voters don’t seem thrilled, Republicans are lining up, and independents appear mostly exhausted. That’s not momentum. That’s a warning light.
Oregon doesn’t need another lecture. It needs leadership that produces results instead of excuses. Right now, the numbers say a growing chunk of the state has simply stopped buying what Tina Kotek is selling.
