Americans Divided on the Outlook of a Divided Congress

Americans are divided on the outlook of a divided Congress for the next two years, as Democrats will retain the Senate and Republicans close in on securing a majority in the House, a recent YouGov survey found.

Democrat Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D-NV)  defeat of Republican challenger Adam Laxalt secures a majority for Democrats in the Senate, with 50 Democrat senators and Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tie breaker. While Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Republican Herschel Walker still have a runoff election in the Peach State, the party controlling the Senate does not hang in the balance on that race. 

It appears, however, that Republicans will take control of the House. NPR currently has the GOP with 212 seats, compared to 204 for Democrats. A party needs to reach 218 for a majority in the lower chamber.

“If current leads hold, Republicans would wind up with a 222-213 majority. That would mean Republicans could only lose four members of their conference to pass legislation,” NPR reported. 

YouGov asked respondents how they feel about the prospect of a divided Congress, and over one-third, 34 percent, consider it a “bad” thing “because it results in gridlock, where not much gets done.”

Meanwhile, 30 percent said it is a “good” thing “because one party can provide checks on the other party.” Another 21 percent said they are not sure, and 15 percent said “neither.”

A plurality of Democrats, 45 percent, said a divided Congress is a bad thing, while a plurality of Republicans, 38 percent, said it is a good thing. Independents remain split, as 27 percent said it is a good thing, and 27 percent believe it is a bad thing. 

Despite the GOP’s inability to take control of the Senate, Republicans won roughly 6 million more votes nationwide this election cycle in the races for the U.S. House. 

As Breitbart News reported:

According to the Cook Political Report, as of Thursday morning, November 10, Republicans have won 50,113,534 votes, or 52.3% of the vote, compared to 44,251,768, or 46.2% of the vote. Republicans lead by 6.1%, which is better than their average in “generic congressional ballot” polls, in which the party led by 2.5% in the final RealClearPolitics average before the election. But Republicans have only managed to flip nine seats thus far — likely enough to control the House, but far short of a “wave” result many anticipated.

The YouGov survey was taken November 9-11, 2022, among 1,500 U.S. adults.