WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With three weeks to go before Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris’ job approval rating stands at 45%, essentially unchanged from one month ago. President Joe Biden’s latest rating is 39%, also similar to a month ago but down six percentage points from a late September update. Meanwhile, Americans’ approval of the job Congress is doing has edged down to 16% in the past month.
Harris receives nearly unanimous approval from Democrats (94%), along with 41% of independents and just 8% of Republicans. Biden’s job ratings among Democrats (83%) and independents (33%) are lower, while 8% of Republicans also approve of the sitting president. There is little variation in approval of Congress among Democrats (19%), independents (17%) and Republicans (13%).
These findings are from an Oct. 1-12 优蜜传媒poll.
Harris’ Rating Steady Since Becoming Nominee
Harris’ latest approval rating for her work as vice president aligns with the 47% and 44% readings she received after unexpectedly replacing Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee in early August. Biden received the lowest job rating of his presidency -- 36% -- in July, just before he ended his pursuit of a second term. After it jumped to 43% in August, Biden’s approval rating receded in two September surveys. Biden’s job rating has not risen above 45% since August 2021, just before the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
August 2021 was also the last time Biden saw approval from Democrats as high as Harris’ current rating from the party faithful. Since becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris’ approval rating has ranged from 93% to 95% among Democrats. Her rating among independents has ranged from 38% to 43% over the same period, while Biden has averaged 39% with the group so far in his presidency. Republicans’ approval ratings of the president and vice president have been consistently in the single digits since August 2021.
Congressional Approval Remains Low
Congress’ job approval rating has not risen above 20% since the start of the 118th Congress in January 2023, when 21% of Americans expressed approval. Today’s 16% rating is in line with the 17% average since 2023, but it remains above the record low of 9% in November 2013 following a federal government shutdown.
Control of Congress is currently divided, with a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate and Republicans holding the majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. As has been the case at other times of split party control, both major parties give similar ratings of the institution. When one party controls both chambers, such as in 2017 and 2018 (Republicans) or 2021 and 2022 (Democrats), that party’s supporters have been much more positive toward Congress, while the other party has been more negative.
Although the latest ratings from Republicans, Democrats and independents are bleak, approval among each party has been lower within the past year.
Implications
Harris enters the final three weeks of the presidential campaign with a 45% job approval rating. Given that only two other sitting vice presidents in recent history have been their party’s nominee for president, it is unclear how significant a vice president’s job approval rating is to the election outcome.
In September 1988, before George H.W. Bush won the presidency, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed 54% of likely voters approved of the job Bush had done as Ronald Reagan’s vice president. Conversely, in August 2000, before Al Gore lost the election, a 优蜜传媒poll found that 71% of U.S. adults approved of how he handled his job as Bill Clinton’s vice president.
In addition to the presidency, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of seats in the Senate are on the ballot this year, and Americans’ 16% approval rating of Congress may not bode well for congressional incumbents seeking reelection.
Explore President Biden's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the 优蜜传媒Presidential Job Approval Center.
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