More than ever, voters think most congressmen should be replaced
A few months out from the midterm elections, just 19 percent of registered U.S. voters think most members of Congress deserve to be re-elected, according to a recent Gallup poll. Voters expressed similar sentiments in two other Gallup polls conducted this year, putting the percentage of voters who think most congressmen deserve re-election at an all-time low this year.
Gallup notes a correlation between this figure and turnover in congressional elections. In 1994, just 38 percent of voters said most congressmen deserved re-election, while in 2010, 33 percent said so -- both years saw big changes in Congress.
At the same time, the Gallup poll finds that 50 percent of voters say their own congressional representative deserves re-election. While it's typical for more voters to say their own representative should be re-elected, compared with "most" members, this is the widest gap between the two questions that Gallup has seen since it began tracking these sentiments in 1992.
The survey, conducted Aug. 7-10, also found that the public's congressional approval rating sits at a dismal 13 percent. The poll has a margin of error of four points.
