House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has faced increased scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers in the wake of four special congressional election losses for her party this year, and that criticism has appeared to affect voters' attitudes of her leadership.
Only 41 percent of Democratic voters want Pelosi to stay in her leadership role, while 27 percent do not think the veteran lawmaker should remain the top House Democrat, according to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll. About one-third of voters, 31 percent, do not have an opinion.
Among all voters, 43 percent support her being replaced as the Democratic Party's leader in the House, compared to 26 percent who want her to stay in her post.
The poll found that Pelosi is not favored by most voters, Politico reported.
The same split is evident in Pelosi's favorability ratings. Overall, 31 percent of voters view Pelosi favorably, compared with 46 percent who view her unfavorably. Her unfavorable rating is second-worst among political leaders tested in the poll; 48 percent of voters view President Donald Trump unfavorably.
The partisan division is revealing: Pelosi has a 2-to-1 favorable-to-unfavorable rating among Democrats, 49 percent to 25 percent. But her ratings among Republicans (21 percent to 63 percent) and independents (20 percent to 52 percent) are far worse.
And there's an enthusiasm gap, too: Republicans' negative feelings toward Pelosi are more intense than Democrats' positive opinions.
"A common argument is that fervent Republican opposition to Pelosi is more potent than her lukewarm Democratic support," said Kyle Dropp, Morning Consult co-founder and chief research officer. "The polling appears to bear this out: Just 16 percent of Democratic voters have a 'very' favorable opinion of her, while 49 percent of Republicans have a 'very' unfavorable one."
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican political action committee, released internal polling data that suggests Pelosi is 'toxic' to districts that Democrats are trying to flip, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
There have also been several Democrats who have spoken out against Pelosi, saying she is not the right person to lead the Democrats to victory in the 2018 elections
UPDATED 11:20 A.M.: This post was updated to say that 41 percent of Democratic voters want Nancy Pelosi to remain House minority leader while 27 percent want her to be removed, according to the Politico/Morning Consult poll. The original headline of this story stated that 26 percent of Democratic voters want her to remain in her leadership role, while the original body of the text said that 46 percent want Pelosi to stay in her leadership role.