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BURLINGTON, Vt., April 28 (UPI) -- Though he trails front-runner Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders is still tops on one list -- a new survey that says he's the most popular senator in the United States among constituents. A full 80 percent of Vermonters said they approve of the Senate performance of Sanders -- who leads the new ranking of 100 sitting U.S. senators by Morning Consult.
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The only other sitting senator in the race, Texas Republican Ted Cruz, hovers in the middle of the pack at No. 31 with a home state approval rating of 55 percent.
Only 2 percent of voters said they had no opinion on Sanders' performance, compared with 14 percent for Cruz.
Sanders has lost a few percentage points and Cruz has gained a few since Morning Consult released approval ratings in November.
Sanders, who has become a liberal darling since launching his long shot bid for the presidency last year, hails from a reliably liberal state -- whereas Cruz comes from a largely conservative state.
Experts say national candidates often see a bump in their ratings if their campaigns are viewed as successful and in line with home state values. On the flip side of Sanders and Cruz, though, is former GOP candidate Marco Rubio.
Rather than run for another term as a Florida senator, Rubio jumped into the presidential race. When his national campaign folded, his political numbers did as well.
According to the new list, he is now among the 10 least-liked senators in their home state, with an approval rating of just 45 percent. Nearly as many respondents, 41 percent, said they disapprove of his performance.
In November's survey, Rubio's numbers were much better -- a 50 percent approval rating with only 33 percent disapproving.
