Support for candidates who voted for the health-care law has improved dramatically in recent months, a Washington Post/ABC News poll released Tuesday shows.
The survey found respondents almost exactly split on the question of whether they would be more or less likely to vote for a congressional candidate who supports the Affordable Care Act, with 34% saying they would be more likely to vote for the candidate and 36% saying they would be less likely to do so. Some 27% said it would not make a difference.
That’s a significant jump in support levels from November—a month after the troubled launch of HealthCare.gov, the federal insurance exchange that serves 36 states—when just 21% said a candidate’s support for the law would make them more likely to vote for them, compared to 37% who said it would make them less likely to do so. A much larger percentage—40%—were indifferent.
In both cases, Democratic voters were much more likely than Republican voters to support candidates favoring the health-care law. Since November, support for those candidates among Democrats has doubled—to 72%, up from 38%—and support among Republicans has more than tripled, to 27% from 7%.
These numbers are good news for Democrats in vulnerable seats, who have been seeking to distance themselves from the flawed rollout of HealthCare.gov. Republicans have vowed to make the law a central issue of November’s midterms, and wealthy conservative outside groups, like Americans for Prosperity, have spent millions on ads targeting Democrats’ support for the law. Problems in the law persist—and several components have been delayed until 2015—but as some of the most glaring issues improve, voter opposition appears to be diminishing.
The poll, which surveyed 1,002 adults from Feb. 27 to March 2, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
The survey found respondents almost exactly split on the question of whether they would be more or less likely to vote for a congressional candidate who supports the Affordable Care Act, with 34% saying they would be more likely to vote for the candidate and 36% saying they would be less likely to do so. Some 27% said it would not make a difference.
That’s a significant jump in support levels from November—a month after the troubled launch of HealthCare.gov, the federal insurance exchange that serves 36 states—when just 21% said a candidate’s support for the law would make them more likely to vote for them, compared to 37% who said it would make them less likely to do so. A much larger percentage—40%—were indifferent.
In both cases, Democratic voters were much more likely than Republican voters to support candidates favoring the health-care law. Since November, support for those candidates among Democrats has doubled—to 72%, up from 38%—and support among Republicans has more than tripled, to 27% from 7%.
These numbers are good news for Democrats in vulnerable seats, who have been seeking to distance themselves from the flawed rollout of HealthCare.gov. Republicans have vowed to make the law a central issue of November’s midterms, and wealthy conservative outside groups, like Americans for Prosperity, have spent millions on ads targeting Democrats’ support for the law. Problems in the law persist—and several components have been delayed until 2015—but as some of the most glaring issues improve, voter opposition appears to be diminishing.
The poll, which surveyed 1,002 adults from Feb. 27 to March 2, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.