Public Still Prefers Democrats More Than Republicans

The Republican Party won the White House and was able to maintain their majorities in both houses of Congress in the 2016 election. That might make some think that the Republicans are now viewed more favorably than the Democrats among the general public. But that would be fallacious thinking.

The Republicans actually received less votes than the Democrats did in the 2016 election (over 2.8 million less in the presidential election). They were able to win only because of the archaic rules of the electoral college, and some very effective gerrymandering of congressional districts they were able to do after the 2010 census (winning an off-year election where too many Democrats and Independents didn't bother to vote).

The truth is that the general public is not too thrilled with either major political party, but they still have a more favorable opinion of Democrats than of Republicans -- by 6 points where the parties are concerned, and by 9 points where Congress is concerned.

The chart above was made using information in a recent Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between December 17th and 20th of a random national sample of 1,376 adults (including 1,193 registered voters), with a 3.3 point margin of error.