FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 13, 2023 Press Contact: David Frulla
WASHINGTON D.C. – The Republican Main Street Partnership (RMSP) and Women2Women released a new poll with nationally recognized research firm Echelon Insights. With nationwide polling of 1,026 likely Republican primary voters, the data reveals surprising new insights about voter sentiment regarding a possible government shutdown this fall.
“There are no winners when the government shuts down. There are only bigger losers, and Republicans are the ones who will lose the most if a budget and funding resolution isn’t authorized in eleven days. A majority of Republican voters see this as bad politics and even worse governing,” said Sarah Chamberlain, RMSP President and CEO. “Republicans have a choice in the coming two weeks. They can be a fractured party beholden to the more extreme wings of the GOP, or they can make a deal with Democrats and govern responsibly.”
The poll was conducted August 31–September 4, 2023. Some key findings include:
Two-thirds of GOP primary voters believe that a possible government shutdown is a “crisis” (67%), with the sentiment felt strongest (73%) among young voters (ages 18-39) and moderate Republicans (82%).
More than half of GOP primary voters (51%) hope that their member of Congress works with others across party lines to keep the government open, and that fights over unrelated policy issues should not affect a potential government shutdown.
If the federal government does shut down, half of GOP primary voters (50%) think that the Democratic party would be either probably or definitely responsible, and 30% of voters think that both parties would be equally responsible for this outcome.
A majority of GOP primary voters had heard nothing or very little about the possibility of a government shutdown this fall (61%), with young voters (ages 18-39) ranking highest in this category at 68%.
METHODOLOGY: This survey was fielded from August 31–September 4, 2023 among a sample of N=1,026 likely 2024 Republican primary voters nationwide. Respondents were contacted through web sample providers and completed the survey online. The sample was matched to the L2 voter file to verify respondents’ voter registration status, and was weighted to population benchmarks for likely Republican primary voters nationwide on gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, and Census region. Calculated the way it would be for a random sample and adjusted to incorporate the effect of weighting, the margin of sampling error is ± 3.8 percentage points. This survey was conducted by Echelon Insights on behalf of the Republican Main Street Partnership.
ABOUT RMSP: The Republican Main Street Partnership (RMSP) encompasses a broad alliance of conservative, governing Republicans, including more than 85 sitting members in Congress. Led by President and CEO Sarah Chamberlain, RMSP is dedicated to working to enact common sense legislation that gets things done for the American people. RMSP’s members run and win in the most highly contested swing districts in the country.