Independent voters are evenly split on the issue of party favorability, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds.
Forty-seven percent of independent registered voters said they view the Democratic Party favorably, while 53 percent said they view the party unfavorably. The numbers are mirrored exactly for the Republican Party.
Among voters overall, the Democratic Party had a slight advantage, with a 54 percent favorability rating, while the Republican Party received 49 percent favorability in the survey.
“Independents are in the same exact place with each party and that means when we’re looking at the persuadable voters going into a presidential year, both parties are on equal footing with those key persuadable voters,” B.J. Martino, Republican pollster and Partner at the Tarrance group, told The Hill.
Mallory Newall, director of research at Ipsos, said that independent voters in general are less likely to hold positive views toward institutions, political parties included, and that the handling of the coronavirus crisis will play a vital role in how this group votes in November.
“Independents are pretty evenly split when it comes to looking at institutions and parties as a whole,” Newall told The Hill.
“I think what really matters is how they feel about people themselves, how they respond to the President, how they feel about Democratic nominees potential nominees,” she added, “what they’re looking for right now, especially in this really turbulent unprecedented climate, is who’s going to focus on the issues they care about, and that’s the handling of the COVID pandemic and jobs.”
The Hill-HarrisX poll was conducted online 2,001 registered voters between Mar. 14 and 15. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
—Gabriela Schulte
hilltv copyright