Democrats are significantly more enthusiastic than Republicans to cast ballots in the 2018 midterm elections, according to a survey of registered voters released Thursday by the left-leaning Public Policy Polling.
Sixty-three percent of Democratic registered voters said they are “very excited” to vote next year, compared to only 52 percent of Republicans, the poll found. The gap grows even more pronounced among the voters most excited to cast their ballots for House races — 57 percent among Democrats and 38 percent among Republicans.
GOP registered voters lead Democrats in the percentage who are “somewhat excited” to vote or “not that excited” to vote.
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The poll comes on the heels of tight special House races in conservative districts in Kansas and Georgia.
In Kansas’ 4th District, a deep-red district typically considered safe for the GOP, Republican House candidate Ron Estes narrowly beat out James Thompson last week to fill the seat vacated by now-CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
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And on Tuesday, Democrat Jon Ossoff came close to an outright win in Georgia’s 6th District House election, a race Democrats painted as an early referendum on the Trump administration. Because no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote, Ossoff will face Republican Karen Handel in a June runoff.
While the low enthusiasm among Republican registered voters is, in part, the result of Trump’s low popularity, the PPP poll also highlighted concerns for House Speaker Paul RyanPaul Davis RyanBush, Romney won’t support Trump reelection: NYT Twitter joins Democrats to boost mail-in voting — here’s why Lobbying world MORE (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote GOP senator to try to reverse requirement that Pentagon remove Confederate names from bases No, ‘blue states’ do not bail out ‘red states’ MORE (R-Ky.). Ryan’s approval rating sits at only 30 percent, while McConnell’s comes in even lower at 24 percent, according to the poll.
“A lot of attention gets paid to how unpopular Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE is,” PPP President Dean Debnam said in a news release. “But Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have even lower poll numbers. That’s another reason why Democrats are looking well positioned for next year.”
The poll surveyed 648 registered voters from April 17-18 and has a margin of error of 3.9 percent.