Rasmussen: Reid, Pelosi Unfavorables Hit New Highs

With midterm congressional elections just a week away, the number of voters who view Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid very unfavorably have reached their highest levels yet.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 60 percent of likely voters have an unfavorable impression of Pelosi, including 52 percent who hold a very unfavorable opinion of her. That’s her highest very unfavorable rating since regular tracking began in early February 2009. Only 33 percent share a favorable impression of the California Democrat, including 16 percent who view her very unfavorably.

Fifty-four percent view Reid unfavorably, including 41 percent with a very unfavorable opinion, also the highest finding since February of last year. Twenty-nine percent hold a favorable view of Reid, who is struggling for reelection in Nevada. That includes just seven percent with a very unfavorable regard for him.

Of course, Pelosi and Reid are the most visible congressional leaders at a time when opinions of Congress are so low that 62 percent of voters think it would be better for the country if most congressional incumbents are defeated this November.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on October 20-21, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

If Republicans win control of the House, John Boehner is likely to replace Pelosi as speaker. However, just 32 percent view the current House minority leader favorably, while 40 percent have an unfavorable opinion of the Ohio Republican. These findings include nine percent (9 percent) very favorable and 20 percent very unfavorable. But 28 percent don’t know Boehner well enough to offer any kind of opinion of him.

Since February 2009, Boehner’s favorables have ranged from 21 percent to 32 percent and his unfavorables from 31 percent to 48 percent.