As Republicans gather in Texas, a new poll shows more voters prefer the Democratic Party win back control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
In the Quinnipiac University poll published Sept. 10, 49% of respondents said they would want the Democratic Party to win control of the House, while 38% said they would want the Republican Party to win, if the midterm elections were held today. The margin is slightly wider than the July 29 poll, when 48% wanted the Democrats to win and 41% wanted the Republicans to win.
Still, both parties have low approval ratings overall. Just 21% approve of how the Democrats are handling their job in Congress compared with 70% who disapprove, while 26% of voters approve of Republicans’ job in Congress compared with 67% who disapprove.
The poll comes as Republicans hold their first-ever midterm convention in Dallas in an attempt to rally their party for the uphill battle to keep control of Congress. President Donald Trump gave a keynote address on the first night of the two-day event, unveiling a plan to give $5,000 to American adults, but only if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in the November elections.
What is Donald Trump’s approval rating?
Trump’s approval rating came in above, but within the margin of error, his lowest by the Quinnipiac polls, with 33% of voters saying they approve of how Trump is handling his job as president and 59% saying they disapprove. (The poll was conducted Sept. 3-6 among 970 self-identified registered voters. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.)
Trump’s average approval rating has been net negative since April of his first year back in office and has fluctuated since. Here is Trump’s average approval rating as of Sept. 10, according to aggregators:
How to watch the Republican midterm convention
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Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X (Twitter), Threads, Bluesky and TikTok.