GOP Voters to Lawmakers: Don't Support Immigration Bill

A Republican lawmaker who votes for immigration reform will do so at his or her own peril, according to a new poll released late Monday.

The latest United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection found that 49 percent of Republican adults surveyed said they are less likely to support GOP incumbents for re-election if they vote for a bill that includes a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Only 15 percent of Republicans said they would be more likely to support incumbents who vote for it.

The telephone poll of 1,005 adults conducted June 20-23, also found that 19 percent of Democrats would be less likely to vote for a lawmaker who supports immigration reform, while 49 percent said it makes no difference to them how lawmakers voted. Twenty-nine percent of Democrats, however, said they would be more likely to support incumbents who do vote for a bill legalizing undocumented immigrants.

Among all survey participants, 42 percent said how a lawmaker votes on the issue would not really affect their support for an incumbent one way or the other, while 33 percent said a vote in favor of the bill would make it less likely they would support their senator or congressman for re-election.

The Senate immigration bill cleared an important hurdle Monday, when a border security amendment was cleared in a procedural vote 67 to 27, with 15 Republicans supporting it.

Conservatives around the country, including columnist Ann Coulter, warned of trouble ahead for any Republicans who support the Senate bill in a final vote. Coulter, according to the National Journal, offered to support any GOP candidates in a primary election against the senators who vote for the measure. Coulter's sentiments are reflect in the opinions of a large portion of Republicans surveyed in this latest poll.