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A new poll ranking senators by their approval rating shows that Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee have cracked the top 50.
About every six months, Morning Consult, a Washington, D.C., news site, releases the results of a survey allowing them to peg the popularity of all 100 senators in their home states.
The most recent poll, released Tuesday, showed Hatch ranked 38th with an approval rate of 54 percent, while Lee, who is running for re-election against Democrat Misty Snow, is 42nd with an approval rating of 53 percent. That's a major improvement from the last time Morning Consult did the survey back in April. At that time, Hatch was 66th with an approval rating of 49 percent, and Lee was 73rd with an approval rating of 48 percent. And six months before that, Hatch ranked 62nd (51 percent approval) and Lee came in a dismal 81st (46 percent).
While Hatch has consistently had slightly better numbers than Lee, he has had higher disapproval numbers as well. The current survey puts Hatch's disapproval rate at 35 percent and Lee's at 28 percent.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is the most popular senator by a long shot, getting an approval rating of 87 percent. Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins came in second at 69 percent.
The least popular senator is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who received an unfavorable rating from 51 percent of voters in Kentucky, with 39 percent approving.