Americans Much Less Likely to Vote GOP Than Year Ago: Conservative Pollster

A pollster with conservative-leaning polling company Rasmussen Reports said in an interview Thursday that people are "much less likely to vote for Republicans" than they were a year ago.

The comments, made by Rasmussen's Mark Mitchell, came during an interview on former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon's War Room podcast on Thursday.

During the episode, Bannon asked Mitchell about midterm congressional ballot polling. "Right now, from Rasmussen's perspective, just where do you guys see this thing turning out directionally?" Bannon asked.

"Mixed signals," Mitchell responded, noting that Rasmussen found the GOP led Democrats in generic congressional ballot polling by 13 points last year, which was "the biggest Republican lead we'd ever seen in our polling history."

"And as of last week, I think we had Republicans up plus 2 [points], but it's essentially a dead heat now. And so, the top line there is the Republican Party blew a historic lead in the generic ballot," Mitchell said.

"Will the pendulum swing back. Maybe. We haven't seen it yet," Mitchell added. He noted that Rasmussen also found last week that Republicans lead Democrats in "voter enthusiasm" by 8 points.

Bannon later asked Mitchell about the issues that matter most to voters, according to polling. He said that they include violent crime, energy policy, gas prices, inflation and the economy.

Bannon then asked why Republicans' lead in the generic ballot shrank as much as it did "given the fact that this issue set seems to play to Republicans."

"When somebody loses a lead like that, it's a referendum on the party. So people are very concerned about all these topics—they look around, they see a lot of problems with the economy, they're worried about being able to make the rent payment or whatever, but they're less likely to vote for Republicans—I think that's a very clear signal—than they were a year ago," Mitchell added.

Newsweek has reached out to the Republican National Committee for comment.

A poll from Rasmussen released last week found that 44 percent of U.S. voters said they would support a Republican congressional candidate in the midterms, while 42 percent would back the Democrat.

"Republicans have led the Generic Congressional Ballot all year, although their lead has narrowed significantly since mid-July, when they led by as much as 10 points," Rasmussen wrote.

A poll released by Yahoo News/YouGov on September 6 found Democrats with a lead: 45 percent of voters said they'd support Democratic candidates in the midterms while 40 percent said they'd support Republicans.