It's tough to be the new guy on the job. If you've ever been in that position then you know it takes time to earn the trust of your co-workers and bosses. John Bel Edwards has been on the job as Governor of Louisiana for a little over a month. So far the people that hired him are not impressed.

John Bel Edwards has the lowest approval rating of a new Governor since the numbers generated by Governor Edwin Edwards in 1992. That was the beginning of Edwin's last term. In a poll conducted by Southern Media Research John Bel Edwards approval rating was just 42%.

Bernie Pinsonat, the pollster and political pundit, suggest that Edwards does have a lot of time gain the confidence and approval of the electorate but these low approval numbers are certainly not the norm for a newly anointed governor.

Normally governors go in with a lot of goodwill and their popularity is pretty high, 50s or 60s.

In his remarks to the Louisiana Radio Network Pinsonat said that one quarter of respondents disapprove of Edwards performance while slightly over one third of respondents were undecided on the issue.  If you're wondering, most polls found that residents of Louisiana disapproved of Bobby Jindal even more toward the end of his term.

If you were asking what state official is actually  getting the love, you'd have to look at the State Treasurers Office. Pinsonat suggested that right now State Treasurer John Kennedy has the highest approval rating of any state official. This could be especially troubling for Edwards since Kennedy is leading the charge against the new Governor's proposed tax increases.

Those two, over the next four or five months, it'll be an interesting battle to see which one comes out on top in popularity with a backdrop of a session, trying to raise taxes and reduce spending.

If you were wondering the poll was conducted earlier this month and was underwritten by subscribers.

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