Independent Voters Take Worse View of Congress

Nothing Congress has done since last fall has improved their standing in the eyes of independent voters.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that just 30% of Likely U.S. Voters believe their representative in Congress is the best possible person for the job. That’s down from 32% last September. Forty-two percent (42%) of voters now say their representative in Congress is not the best possible person for the job, and 28% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of voters say that, regardless of how Congress is doing overall, their local representative in Congress deserves to be reelected. Forty-one percent (41%) say their representative doesn’t deserve reelection. Twenty percent (20%) are not sure.

While 38% of Republicans and 48% of Democrats say their local congressional representative deserves reelection, only 30% of voters not affiliated with either major party share that view. Forty-four percent (47%) of unaffiliated voters say their local representative in Congress does not deserve to be reelected, a view shared by 43% of Republicans and 33% of Democrats. In September, 44% of unaffiliated voters felt their local Congress member didn’t deserve reelection.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it’s in the news, it’s in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on April 6-7, 2022 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Only 19% of voters rate Congress as doing an excellent or good job, while 53% give Congress a poor rating. These findings are only slightly changed from February.

Thirty-three percent (33%) of Democrats, 13% of Republicans and 10% of unaffiliated voters give Congress an excellent or good rating. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Republicans, 32% of Democrats and 60% of unaffiliated voters rate Congress as doing a poor job.

While 42% of Democrats believe their representative in Congress is the best possible person for the job, only 28% of Republicans and 19% of unaffiliated voters share that view.

Men (58%) are more likely than women voters (48%) to rate Congress as doing a poor job, and men are also more likely to say their representative in Congress is not the best person for the job.

Whites (58%) are more likely than Black voters (30%) or other minorities (52%) to rate Congress as doing a poor job. Whites are also more likely to say their local representative in Congress does not deserve to be reelected.

Voters with annual incomes between $100,000 and $200,000 are most likely to give Congress a poor rating, while those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 are most likely to say their local representative in Congress does not deserve to be reelected.

College educated voters are more likely to rate Congress as doing a poor job.

President Joe Biden’s strongest supporters are most satisfied with Congress. Among voters who Strongly Approve of Biden’s job performance as president, 46% rate Congress as doing an excellent or good job. By contrast, among voters who Strongly Disapprove of Biden’s performance, only three percent (3%) give Congress an excellent or good rating.

Most U.S voters think America’s illegal immigration problem is getting worse, and believe President Biden is doing a poor job of handling the issue.

By more than a 3-to-1 margin, voters believe the U.S. economy has gotten worse since President Biden took office, and a majority think either he or his Democratic allies in Congress are mostly to blame.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free) or follow us on Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.