A recent poll has shown that Missourians mostly disapproved of U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican Governor Mike Kehoe. The new poll resonated with liberal-leaning voters, who believed that this could help the Democratic Party regain popularity in Missouri.
As reported by Missouri Independent, the poll was conducted by YouGov in partnership with Saint Louis University (SLU), interviewing 900 likely voters. One of its findings was that Trump had a negative approval rating for the first time in the state, with 47% approving of him against 52% disapproving of him. Kehoe’s approval also went down to 39% from 50% in early February 2026.
Overall, the poll showed a downtrend in popularity for Republicans, as voters are unhappy with the Iran war and inflation. Voters are also narrowly split on abortion (43% positive vs. 44% opposing it) and redistricting (35% supporting, 32% opposing, 33% undecided).
Missouri Reacts to Kehoe in Recent Polls
Kehoe and Trump’s negative perception in the poll resonated well with the liberal-leaning users of r/Missouri, who finally saw this as a chance for the Democratic Party to make a comeback in the state.
One of them said: “So what I’m reading is that Kehoe needs to stay the course and dig in.” Another person added: “We really need him to run for reelection. Someone like Kander could absolutely beat him.”
The sentiment was shared by most of the users in the thread: “MO needs to clean house and stop electing Republicans who do not represent the majority.”
Some people lamented how politics worked in more recent times, according to their own perceptions: “Did Missourians just figure out they voted for another uneducated governor? This one is a car salesman instead of a convenience store owner. (…) You know, it used to be that politicians that created chaos and dysfunction didn’t win elections. I reckon we can thank Trump for this new style of governance.”
Others believed that electing a better governor was not enough to fix Missouri: “We need to pay attention to the state legislature elections for STATE senate and HOUSE. This is the meat and potatoes of our state government, and if we balanced that out, the federal seats and leadership would slowly correct over time.”
As Kehoe was elected in 2024, he will continue his term until the next election in 2028. It remains to be seen what his approval rating will be by then.
