Maryland Governor Wes Moore's approval rating drops in new Gonzales poll

A new poll shows Maryland Governor Wes Moore's approval rating has dropped.

The Gonzales poll surveyed 808 voters in the state between December 21, 2025 and January 6, 2026.

The new poll shows that 51.7% of those surveyed approve of Moore's performance, while 41% don't approve, and 7.3% have no opinion.

In a September 2024 poll, Moore's approval rating was 64-percent. His disapproval rating was 25-percent in that survey.

"What was once a comfortable margin is now a tightening squeeze," researchers said in a statement Tuesday. 

Moore was elected Maryland's governor in 2022.

Is Maryland heading in the right direction?

As for the direction of the state, Maryland voters appear to be split.

Forty-six-point-nine percent believe Maryland is heading in the right direction, while 44.1% feel it's going in the wrong direction. Nine percent had no response.

"These numbers suggest an electorate caught in a moment of collective ambivalence, where nearly equal shares of people see progress and decline in the very same landscape," researchers said.

Are Maryland taxes too high?

The majority of Maryland voters surveyed said they pay too much in taxes. The poll revealed that 58% believe they pay too much, and 41% said they pay about the right amount of taxes.

"Much of the 58% majority saying they pay 'too much' likely speaks less to arithmetic than to the deeper question for voters of whether the social contract in the Free State still feels reciprocal," researchers said.

Would you re-elect Gov. Moore today?

Half of the voters said they would vote to re-elect Moore if the election were held today, compared to 28% who say they'd vote for the Republican challenger. Six-percent said they would vote for a third-party candidate. Sixteen-percent were undecided. 

Researchers said that among voters who think they pay too much in taxes, a hypothetical Republican candidate beats Moore by thirteen points, 47% to 34%.   

Margin of error

The results of the poll have a margin of error (MOE) of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Therefore, if the entire population were surveyed, there is a 95% probability that the true numbers would fall within this range, researchers said.