Poll: Majority Say GOP Lawmakers Have ‘Lost Touch with Republican Voters’

A majority of voters believe GOP lawmakers in Congress have “lost touch” with Republican voters, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Thursday found.

“Over the past several years, have Republicans in Congress done a good job of representing Republican values?” the survey asked. A majority of likely voters, 57 percent, expressed the belief such lawmakers “have lost touch with Republican voters from throughout the nation” compared to 29 percent who said they have done a “good job of representing Republican values.”

A majority of Republicans, 51 specifically, agreed GOP lawmakers have lost touch with Republican voters, compared to 41 percent who said they have done a good job and eight percent who remain unsure.

The survey asked the same question of Democrats and found a plurality of likely voters, 49 percent, indicating the belief Democrat lawmakers, too, have lost touch with their base. Forty percent disagreed. However, Democrat voters do not feel the same way. Sixty-two percent said Democrat lawmakers have done a good job representing their values compared to 32 percent who said they lost touch.

A majority of independent voters tend to believe both GOP and Democrat lawmakers have lost touch with their bases, 65 percent and 51 percent, respectively.

The survey, taken from February 28 to March 1 among 1,000 U.S. likely voters, has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

The news comes as congressional Republicans attempt to unite despite an underlying tone of division between the establishment and GOP base — division that became all the more evident after ten GOP House lawmakers voted to impeach former President Trump and seven GOP senators voted to convict. Those included Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Mitt Romney (R-UT).

A Rasmussen Reports survey released last month showed nearly three-quarters of Republican voters wanting the party to be “more like former President Trump” moving forward.