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Poll: Fewer Republicans view own party favorably

by Jesse Byrnes - 07/24/15 2:06 PM ET

The percentage of those with favorable views of the Republican Party has dropped across the board since early this year, including sharply among Republicans, a Pew Research Center poll says.

Fewer than a third of Americans, 32 percent, have a favorable impression of the GOP, a 9-point drop in the poll since January. Pew’s survey finds that 60 percent have an unfavorable view.

{mosads}Positive views of the Republican Party have fallen 18 points since January among those who identify as Republican, from 86 to 68 percent.

It has also fallen 8 points among Independents since then, from 37 to 29 percent.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party’s ratings are closer — 48 percent favorable to 47 percent unfavorable — and Democrats’ views on their party have remained steady, 86 percent favorable, during the GOP’s dip.

Pew’s latest poll was conducted early last week amid a nascent 2016 presidential race that has been dominated in the media by businessman Donald Trump since he launched a White House bid in mid-June.

Trump, a Republican candidate, has enjoyed weeks of attention for his controversial comments on “rapists” and other criminals coming across the border from Mexico, fizzled business ties and intra-party jabbing.

Despite the controversy, he sits atop a crowded GOP field in recent polling.

Pew’s survey of 2,002 U.S. adults was conducted July 14-20 via landlines and cellphones with a margin of error of 2.5 points.

Tags Donald Trump