19 percent of voters say most members of Congress deserve re-election, poll shows

Fewer than one in five registered voters say most members of Congress deserve re-election this year, a number on track to be the all-time lowest since Gallup started asking the question in 1992.

The 19 percent of American voters who think most members deserve re-election is lower than the 38 percent figure in 1994 and 33 percent figure in 2010 — two midterm elections that saw huge shakeups in Congress but, as Gallup points out, two years where Democrats had controlled both the U.S. House and the Senate.

About half of voters say their own representative deserves re-election, although a recent Gallup survey put the overall congressional approval rating at 13 percent.

“The percentage of American voters who believe most members of Congress deserve re-election is at an all-time low,” wrote Gallup’s Frank Newport. “Their views of whether their own representative deserves re-election are also low, but not nearly as sour as their views of Congress more generally. These negative evaluations of Congress have historically been related to lower rates of incumbent re-election in midterm elections and a higher turnover of congressional seats.”

The poll of 897 registered voters was conducted from Aug. 7-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.