CHARLESTON — After seeing a slight drop in job approval numbers from the beginning of the year, Gov. Jim Justice remains in the top 10 most popular governors with a modest improvement in his favorability. But as U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin decides to seek a third term, he remains unpopular even with a bump in his numbers.

Morning Consult, a national survey and data firm, released its quarterly U.S. Senator and Governor Approval Ratings report Tuesday. The surveys were conducted between July 1 and Sept. 30 among a representative sample of registered voters in West Virginia with a 5% margin of error.

According to the quarterly report, 63% of respondents approved of Justice’s job performance as governor, with 30% disapproving and 8% unsure or have no opinion. Justice ranked as the sixth most popular governor in the nation.

Despite numerous headlines since entering the U.S. Senate race in April about financial issues with his businesses, lawsuits seeking millions of dollars and controversies surrounding several executive branch departments, Justice’s approval numbers were a slight improvement over his second quarter figures. During the second quarter, 62% of respondents approved of Justice’s job performance as governor, with 33% expressing disapproval and 5% unsure or expressing no opinion. During Morning Consult’s first quarterly ranking, Justice ranked in the top five most popular governors with a 66% approval number and a 31% disapproval number.

Justice is in his second consecutive term as governor, being limited to two four-year terms. He was first elected as a Democrat in 2016, switched to Republican in 2017 and won re-election under the GOP banner in 2020.

According to multiple polls, Justice is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for seat held by Manchin, D-W.Va. Justice is opposed by Mercer County resident Zane Lawhorn and U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va.

Manchin, who has served in the Senate since winning a special election in 2010 to succeed the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd, has not announced re-election plans for 2024.

According to Morning Consult’s third quarter survey, 48% approve of Manchin’s job performance in the U.S. Senate, while 42% disapprove and 10% were unsure. Among Democratic incumbent senators, Manchin was the lone Democratic incumbent with negative net approval ratings.

However, Manchin’s third quarter numbers are an improvement over his second quarter and first quarter Morning Consult survey numbers. In the second quarter, 55% of respondents said they did not approve of Manchin’s job performance, with 39% saying they approved of Manchin’s job performance and 7% either unsure or had no opinion. Manchin’s first quarter job approval rating was 38% and his disapproval rating was 55% with 8% unsure or having no opinion.

Manchin’s approval numbers have dropped since he backed President Joe Biden’s $737 billion Inflation Reduction Act in the summer of 2022. Morning Consult poll numbers between January-March 2022 after Manchin rejected the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better spending bill proposed by Biden showed Manchin with 57% job approval and 35% disapproval.