Majority of Americans Fear Next Congress Could Spark Two Years of Gridlocked Government: Poll

Americans will go to the polls in November for midterm elections where all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 of 100 Senate seats, and thousands of offices at the state and local level will be up for grabs. The vote comes in an atmosphere of heightened tensions, with a substantial portion of the electorate fearing political violence.

Over half of American adults fear that the November 8 elections could lead to a result in which Congress is split between Republicans and Democrats, resulting in two years of legislative gridlock.

The poll, conducted by Ipsos for Axios, found that 53 percent of those queried are concerned about the implications of a divided government. Self-identified Democrats fear the prospect most, with 64 percent saying they’re worried, compared to 51 percent of Republicans and 44 percent of independents.

49 percent expressed concerns about the prospects of Democrats keeping control of both houses of Congress, while 46 percent said Republican control of the House and Senate worries them.

Those polled indicated that they have no idea on the outcome of the election, with about 1/3 each expecting the GOP or the Democrats to take the Senate and/or House, with the remainder saying they simply don’t know.

Americans who fear the Democrats staying in charge listed inflation, the economy, the party’s unceasing investigations into former president Donald Trump, declining confidence in government, increasing political violence and an absence of checks and balances on President Biden as problems they expect to get worse if the president’s party retains control.

Those who fear Republicans taking control of both Houses similarly listed inflation and the economy, increasing political violence, and declining confidence in government as problems which would get worse. They also expect gridlock between the executive and legislative branches, more of a focus in Congress on divisive social issues, and more attention to Trump’s allegations of electoral fraud in the 2020 election.

The Axios/Ipsos survey was conducted from September 23-26, and was based on a sample of 1,004 American adults. The poll has a margin of error is 3.8 percent.

The polling comes amid an atmosphere of heightened tensions across the nation as Democratic lawmakers and officials continue to investigate Trump’s business and political activities in an effort to bar him from running for office in 2024, and amid the former president’s continued claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him by the “crooked Democrat” operators in key swing states. In an address to the nation last month, President Biden warned that US values were under attack by “extremist” Republicans who posed a “threat to America,” intensifying fears of civil strife.

In June, a YahooNews/YouGov poll found that majorities of Democrats and Republicans agree that it was “likely” for the US to “cease being a democracy” at some point in the future, with 52 percent of Republicans, 50 percent of independents and 46 percent agreeing that a “civil war” was likely in their lifetimes. A second YouGov poll taken in August showed that 66 percent of Americans believe political divisions have gotten worse since 2021, with 60 percent anticipating rising political violence, and 57 percent saying a civil war was “very likely” or “at least somewhat likely.”