GOP’s favorability hits highest mark in seven years: Gallup

Forty-five percent give a favorable rating to the Republican Party in a new poll by Gallup, the highest number hit by the GOP in the poll since 2011.

It’s also a tick up from the 44 percent polled who view the Democratic Party favorably.

While it’s only a one-point difference, it comes weeks before the midterm elections and represents a swing from previous polls in which more American respondents gave a favorable opinion of Democrats compared to Republicans.

{mosads}”No matter how much or how little party favorability affects elections, the fact that Republicans are more likely to view their party favorably than a year ago can be considered a positive indicator for the party, particularly if a more positive image boosts Republican turnout,” Gallup wrote.

The 45 percent figure is a high watermark for the GOP since January 2011, when 47 percent said they viewed the GOP favorably. That was months after a midterm when the GOP swept back to power in the House.

The last time the GOP had a higher approval rating than Democrats in the Gallup poll was November 2014, when the GOP attained a 42 percent favorability rating and the Democrats had 36 percent. The GOP took back the Senate majority in the midterm elections that year.

The poll also showed that GOP-leaning adults have a more favorable impression of the party now than they did a year ago.

Sixty-seven percent of Republican and Republican-leaning respondents viewed the party favorably last September, while 85 percent hold a favorable view of it now.

At the time of last year’s poll, the Republicans were very publicly losing a battle to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

Monday’s Gallup Poll interviewed 1,035 American adults from Sept. 4-12 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.