Republicans are more enthusiastic than Democrats about November's general election, according to Gallup survey results.
Asked if they are more enthusiastic about voting in 2024 or four years ago, 59% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they are more enthusiastic now, the Gallup results showed.
Only 35% of GOP voters said they are less enthusiastic this year.
Among Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents, 55% said they're more enthusiastic to vote in 2024 than in 2020, and 42% said they're less enthusiastic.
Those numbers mean Republicans hold an 11-point lead over Democrats (plus-24 to plus-13) in net enthusiasm trails, which could be an encouraging sign for the GOP as former President Donald Trump appears destined to oppose President Joe Biden in the race for the White House.
"Partisan differences in voting enthusiasm can vary over the course of each election year, but the party with the higher net-enthusiasm score at the end of a presidential campaign usually sees their candidate win," Gallup said.
"This is likely because partisan enthusiasm at that point in the election cycle is closely tied to their candidates' position in the preelection polls — the better their party's candidate is doing, the more enthusiastic they feel about voting."
Gallup found that both parties are less enthusiastic about voting in 2024 than four years ago, just after Biden secured the Democratic Party nomination to take on Trump in the general election. At that time, Republicans held a plus-42 net enthusiasm while Democrats were plus-22.
In the two years (2008 and 2020) that Democrats held a clear enthusiasm lead over Republicans at the end of the campaign, the Democrat candidate for president won. In the three years Republicans were more enthusiastic at the end, their party's candidate prevailed in two (2004 and 2016) and lost in one (2012).
Overall, 54% of Americans say they're more enthusiastic about voting this year than in previous elections, while 41% say they are less enthusiastic.
"Americans typically become more enthusiastic about voting by Election Day, with the percentage 'more enthusiastic' reaching close to 65% in late October/early November and the percentage 'less enthusiastic' shrinking to about 23%," Gallup said. "That was the case in all elections since 2004 except for 2016, the latter featuring two historically unpopular nominees in Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton."
The Gallup results are based on a survey conducted March 1-20.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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