Justice ranked fifth-most popular governor across the U.S.
Trending
File photo
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has been ranked as No. 5 in a ranking of the approval ratings of all governors in America.
CHARLESTON -- Gov. Jim Justice ranks No. 5 in a new list of the most popular governors in the United States.
The rankings come from the latest poll results released by Morning Consult, listing the approval ratings of all governors in America.
Justice ranked No. 6 in the same poll last year.
"To be among the very highest-approved governors in America is a true honor," Justice said in a press release.
"With all the historic successes we've seen in West Virginia, especially in the past year, people are prouder than ever to be from this state. They're walking around with their heads held high, and that's exactly what this poll proves," Justice said.
"West Virginians can truly sense that the rocket ship ride that I promised is real and it's happening. We're setting record after record. We're changing our image to the outside world. We're proving that we're the diamond in the rough that everyone missed.
"As someone who loves this amazing state beyond good sense, I could not be more proud of what we've accomplished, and now we've just got to keep the ball rolling," the governor said.
Justice touted successes of his administration, including improving the state's economy, achieving record-setting budget surpluses after inheriting a $500 million budget deficit when first taking office in 2017. The state has also seen record-low unemployment rates under Justice.
Justice's Governor's Roads To Prosperity program is the "state's largest-ever investment in road maintenance and improvement," the release states. "The state has committed more than $2 billion dollars to fixing" roads across West Virginia.
Justice has also led the state of West Virginia through the historic COVID-19 pandemic, receiving praise for his handling of the crisis, particularly during the first year of the pandemic.
"People are more excited than ever to be in West Virginia," Justice said. "From April 2010 to July 2019, more than 43,000 people moved out of the state. However, from 2020 through 2021, net migration is up in West Virginia for the first time in decades, with over 2,000 people moving into the state, making West Virginia one of the top states in the entire nation that people are moving into on a percentage basis."