A poll released Sunday indicated that the Republican Party’s control of the House of Representatives could be in jeopardy following the first government shutdown since 1996.
Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling conducted surveys on behalf of MoveOn.org Political Action in 24 congressional districts with GOP incumbents. In 17 of those districts, registered voters said they would support a generic Democrat over their Republican representative. Four other districts tilted in favor of a generic Democrat after voters were told that the Republican incumbent “supported the government shutdown.”
According to PPP, there were only three districts that gave the nod to the Republican both before and after voters were told that the GOP incumbent supported the shutdown.
Democrats must pick up 17 seats in order to win back control of the House next year.
Polls thus far have indicated that the public places most of the blame for the shutdown on Republicans in Congress. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found that voters nationwide prefer a generic Democrat over a generic Republican in the 2014 congressional races, 43 percent to 34 percent.
