A beltway polling firm, Morning Consult, has surveyed governor rankings, uncovering an interesting result:
Four of the 10 least popular governors highlighted in the Morning Consult analysis have not expanded Medicaid to more low-income people. Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican who made the “bottom” 10, actually called Medicaid expansion "sinful" a couple years ago. Several other governors, including Republican Matt Bevin of Kentucky, have openly expressed their antipathy for the Affordable Care Act. […]
[…] No governor fared worse than Republican Sam Brownback of Kansas. Sixty-five percent of Kansas voters gave Brownback the thumbs-down for his performance.
A few years ago, Brownback approved large tax cuts that stripped state revenue. The decision hurt providers that rely on Medicaid payments and people who depend on those healthcare services.[…]
Oklahoma Republican Mary Fallin ranked as the 10th least popular governor, and her state could become the first to eliminate Medicaid altogether. Oklahoma's Medicaid program has proposed 25% cuts to provider payments, which has drawn furor from hospitals and physicians.
And Michigan's Rick Snyder has the third-highest disapproval rating at 63 percent, due largely to his inaction on the Flint water crisis, which is not directly related to healthcare. Unfortunately, anger and disapproval in public polls over Medicaid decisions doesn't seem to translate at the voting booth, and all of these Republican disasters get elected and re-elected.