Divided government isn’t very popular.
A new Gallup Poll released Wednesday found just one in five people thought it was best for one party to control the White House and another to run Congress.
“This is likely because many Americans have witnessed the government increasingly in gridlock, believing that legislation will get passed only if there is one party in control and that party pushes it through,” said Art Swift in a Gallup analysis.
Current, Republicans control both chambers of Congress while President Barack Obama is a Democrat. Republicans are expected to retain control of the House next year, while Democrats are given a decent chance of winning a Senate majority.
Republicans now have a 246 to 186 majority, with three vacancies. It takes 218 to control the chamber.
In the Senate, Republicans now control 54 seats, meaning Democrats need a net gain of five, or four if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency.
The lack of support for divided government is unusually low. The percentage favoring one-party control, 36 percent, is near the record high of four years ago.
Since 1969, one party has controlled both the presidency and Congress for just over 12 years.
David Lightman: 202-383-6101, @lightmandavid
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