HELENA — Montana voters like the job their top statewide elected officials are doing, awarding them high approval marks, a new Lee Newspapers poll found.

They handed a higher job approval grade to Gov. Brian Schweitzer than they did to his two predecessors, Govs. Judy Martz and Marc Racicot, in the fifth month of their tenures, according to the polls done by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington, D.C.

Schweitzer, a Democrat who took office in January, received a positive job approval score of 57 percent, last week's poll shows. This grade compares with Martz's 44 percent in May 2001 and Racicot's 47 percent in May 1993.

The three members of the state's congressional delegation all received good marks within a few percentage points of each other.

U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, a Republican, led the pack for the third time in about two and one-half years with a job approval score of 62 percent, followed by Sen. Conrad Burns, also a Republican, at 59 percent and Democratic Sen. Max Baucus at 58 percent. Rehberg and Burns are seeking re-election next year.

President George Bush received a positive job approval score of 53 percent, his lowest score in the Lee poll in his five years in office.

The poll, taken May 23-25, interviewed 625 registered voters who said they regularly vote in Montana elections. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The job performance questions ask voters surveyed how they would rate the performance of the officeholder: excellent, pretty good, only fair and poor. The first two categories are combined to yield the positive mark, while the latter two make up the negative score.

Schweitzer had a positive job approval score of 57 percent (9 percent rating his effort as "excellent'' and 48 percent as "pretty good'' and a negative score of 33 percent (26 percent as "only fair'' and 7 percent as "poor''), with 10 percent undecided, the poll found. Schweitzer enjoyed higher grades from women, with 60 percent giving him a positive job approval score, compared with 54 percent from men.

Rehberg saw a 62 percent positive mark (16 percent "excellent'' and 46 percent "pretty good", and a 31 percent negative score (18 percent "only fair'' and 13 percent "poor') with 7 percent undecided. Men gave Rehberg higher marks, a 66 percent positive mark, while women gave him a 58 percent positive mark.

Rehberg's job approval score started at 45 percent in May 2001 after a contentious 2000 victory for the House seat against Democrat Nancy Keenan in 2000. His score has climbed steadily until it peaked at 67 percent in December 2003. It's remained at 62 percent in December 2004 and in the current poll.

Burns had a 59 percent positive score (13 percent "excellent'' and 46 percent "pretty good,'' and a negative tally of 39 percent (24 percent "only fair'' and 15 percent "poor''), with 2 percent undecided. Men gave him a job approval score of 67 percent, compared with a 51 percent from women.

Burns has steadily climbed in the Lee polls over the year after a rocky start. His nadir came in May 1994 with a 33 percent positive score but rose to 60 percent in December 1994 after his re-election. Burns' ratings have been mostly in the 50-percent range since May 1997, but fell to 44 percent in May 2001. They rose to 60 percent in December 2003 and 64 percent a year later before settling at 59 percent in this poll.

Baucus had a 58 percent positive score (14 percent "excellent'' and 44 percent "pretty good'') in the latest poll, with a 41 percent negative mark (29 percent ''only fair'' and 12 percent "poor'') with 1 percent undecided. He received higher grades from women, with a 63 percent positive job approval score compared with a 53 percent mark from men.

Baucus' poll ratings peaked at 67 percent in September 1990, when he was up for election, and hit a low of 39 percent in September 1994. He has been in the 50 percent range since 2000, reaching 59 percent in September 2002 and holding steady at 58 percent in December 2004 and in this poll.

Bush had a 53 percent positive score (20 percent "excellent'' and 33 percent "pretty good''), and a 47 percent negative grade (17 percent "only fair'' and 30 percent "poor''). Men give him a 55 percent approval rating, versus a 51 percent score from women.

Bush's Montana job approval ratings peaked at 84 percent in December 2001 following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, They remained mostly in the 60 percent range until dropping to 56 percent in December 2004 and 53 percent in this poll.

He won 59 percent of the Montana votes in 2004 after taking 58 percent here in 2000.