Poll: Tea Party Opposition Ties Record High

Opposition to the tea party has returned to its all-time high, according to a new Gallup poll released Thursday.

Gallup, which has been tracking opposition since 2010, found that 30 percent of those surveyed said they opposed the tea party while 22 percent said they supported the movement. A larger 48 percent said they had no opinion.

In 2010, 30 percent of national adults told Gallup that they were opponents of the tea party while 32 percent said they supported the movement. At the time 38 percent of national adults said they had no opinion or neither supported or opposed the movement.

The 30 percent identifying as opponents is the highest level Gallup has found since it began asking the question.

Broken down by party affiliation, 41 percent of Republicans or people who said they lean Republican said they supported the movement in the most recent survey. Eleven percent said they were opponents of the movement and 48 percent said they were neither supporters or opponents. By contrast, in 2010, 61 percent said they were supporters of the movement while just 5 percent said they were opponents. Thirty-four percent of Republicans and those who identify as leaning toward Republicans said they had no opinion.

For Democrats, the numbers are roughly the same in the most recent survey compared to 2010. Seven percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaners said they supported the tea party movement while 49 percent said they were opponents of it, according to the most recent survey’s findings. Forty-three percent said they had no opinion. In 2010, 9 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners said they supported the movement while 55 percent said they were opponents. Thirty-six said they had no opinion.

The poll, conducted among 1,513 adults, was done between April 24 and April 30. It had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.