Congress’ approval rating remains a dismal 14 percent, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.
It’s among the lowest Gallup has ever logged this close to a midterm election since it began such polling 40 years ago.
“Americans indicate that these negative attitudes will increase their probability of voting this fall, and history suggests it is more likely that Democrats than Republicans will suffer as a result, given Democratic control of the White House,” said a Gallup analysis.
The poll was conducted Sept. 4-7, and is the same as this year’s 14 percent average--though well above the all-time low of 9 percent recorded last November.
By contrast, in September, 2010, congressional approval was 18 percent. Republicans that year won control of the House of Representatives.
That doesn’t mean big change this year, though. “Most observers believe the Republicans are in little jeopardy of losing control of the House this year, so more of the focus has been on the states with Senate races,” Gallup said, but “given the idiosyncratic nature of the particular senators and states that have Senate seats up for election this year, the impact of the negative attitudes about Congress in general on specific Senate races is difficult to predict.”