Democrats could take back the House in 2014 because of voter anger owing to the government shutdown, a new poll finds.
Incumbent Republicans now lag behind generic Democrats in 15 out of 25 Congressional districts in a poll of 600 to 1,000 voters in each district conducted Oct. 15-18 by Public Policy Polling. The poll was commissioned by the liberal organization MoveOn.org.
"Republicans will likely find this third round of surveys to be the most alarming yet, given that the new results show Republican vulnerability in many districts that were not even supposed to be close," Jim Williams of PPP said in a letter.
This poll comes in the wake of an earlier survey by the same polling group, and brings the total number of GOP-held districts surveyed to 61.
The surveys show Democrats leading in 37 of those districts. That rose to 48 when a respondent was told that his member of Congress had supported the government shutdown, with one additional district polling as a tie.
Williams cautions that a lot could change before the 2014 midterm elections, which are more than a year away. He also notes that both surveys took
place in the middle of the budget impasse, when frustration with the shutdown was at a peak.
The government reopened Thursday.
Williams also said the polls can change a lot when an actual candidate is running rather than a generic candidate.
"But what these surveys make clear is that the shutdown has produced a plethora of pickup opportunities for Democrats — and that if they play their cards right, they can not only take back the House but can establish a significant majority," Williams said.
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