A new poll shows that when Americans elect their new members of Congress in 2018, individuals who have opposed President Donald Trump’s policies soon find themselves in tough races. This applied heavily to Republican voters, yet many Democrats and Independents also showed a similar stance.
The poll of 1,000 likely voters was released Sept. 7 by the Center for Security Policy and the Eagle Forum. The voter profile was divided nearly evenly between Republican, Democrat, and Independent respondents.
The poll shows that Democrat and Republican voters were closely in agreement on many key issues—and that Democrat leaders may have more to worry about in the coming elections.
On the issue of Obamacare, the majority of Republicans and Independents opposed “bailing out the health insurance companies without repealing Obamacare.” Democrats were more evenly divided on it.
Among them, 64 percent of Republicans and 57+ percent of Independents said they would not re-elect a member of Congress who agreed to bail out health insurance companies without repealing Obamacare. Among Democrats, 39 percent said they would not re-elect the members of Congress while 41 percent said they would.
Members of Congress who refused to repeal Obamacare mandates and taxes to reduce the cost of healthcare showed similar results.
Only 51 percent of Democrats said they would re-elect the members of Congress who refused to repeal the Obamacare mandates, while only 26 percent of Republicans and 30 percent of Independents said they would re-elect their members.
The results are striking for members of Congress who support Planned Parenthood abortions and refuse to build the Mexico border wall, to defund National Public Radio, and attempt to repeal Obamacare.
Among voters, 67 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of indepenents said they would not re-elect members of Congress who went against Trump’s policies on these issues. Among Democrats, only 54 percent said they would re-elect their members of Congress.
There were similar results for voters who support Trump’s policies on “more careful vetting” of immigrants, particularly those from areas with strong terrorist presence. Only 51 percent of Democrats said they would re-elect officials who opposed the policy.
When it came to Trump’s decision to end Obama’s policy of recruiting transgenders in the U.S. military and paying for their hormone treatments and sex change surgeries—as well as their salaries and benefits while they’re in transition—many also suggested they would want new members of Congress.
The majority of Republicans and independents (69 percent and 51 percent, respectively) showed they would not re-elect a member of Congress who supported the Obama policy. Democrats were again divided almost evenly. 37 percent would not re-elect their members of Congress and 39 percent would.
When asked whether they would re-elect their member of Congress, if he or she had “increased the debt ceiling to spend more money the government doesn’t have, without any new constraints on future spending,” 66 percent of Republicans said they would not re-elect, 55 percent of Democrats said they would not re-elect, and 65 percent of independents said they would not re-elect.
Overall, the poll shows that Republican members of Congress who have gone against Trump’s policies may find themselves in tough races if challenged. And even among Democrats, close to half their voters may have different views than their leaders.
