Rasmussen Poll: Speaker Johnson's Favorability Rises to 44%

Speaker Mike Johnson's popularity with voters has increased in recent weeks, according to recent polls.

In late February, 39% had a favorable impression of Johnson, but a recent Rasmussen Reports survey finds that 44% of likely U.S. voters have a favorable impression of Johnson, including 16% with a very favorable opinion of the Louisiana Republican.

A minority, 32%, view Johnson unfavorably, including 14% with a very unfavorable impression. Another 24% are not sure.

House Democratic leadership announced Tuesday that Democrats would prevent an effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from his position, with threats to do so coming from Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and other House hardliners.

Conservatives had pushed Johnson to tie strict GOP-backed border and immigration policy changes to any foreign aid package.

”But with a Democratic-controlled Senate and White House, such a maneuver would have killed any chance of Congress passing foreign aid, which advocates described as essential to national security,” USA Today wrote.

”This is a critical time right now, a critical time on the world stage,” Johnson said. ”I can make a selfish decision and do something that's different, but I'm doing here what I believe to be the right thing.”

Johnson is viewed favorably by 52% of Republicans and 40% of both Democrats and unaffiliated voters.

Compared to recent Speakers, 23% in the Rasmussen survey say Johnson is better, while 17% say he is worse, 47% say he is about the same, and 13% are not sure.

Twenty-eight percent of Republicans, 22% of Democrats, and 20% of unaffiliated voters say Johnson is better than most recent Speakers of the House. Among Democrats, 23% said Johnson is worse than most recent Speakers, as did 10% of Republicans, and 18% of unaffiliated voters. While 51% of Republicans, 41% of Democrats, and 50% of unaffiliated voters view him as about the same as most of his recent predecessors.

More men (48%) than women voters (40%) have at least a somewhat favorable view of Johnson.

Along racial lines, Johnson is viewed favorably by 43% of whites, 38% of black voters, 55% of Hispanics, and 42% of other minorities.

Voters 65 and older have a more favorable view of Johnson than do younger voters.

Of self-identified conservative voters, 62% have at least a somewhat favorable view of Johnson, as do 35% of moderates and 23% of liberals.

Government employees (52%) are more likely than private sector workers (39%) or retirees (46%) to view Johnson favorably.

Johnson was elected as Speaker of the House on Oct. 25, 2023.

The survey of 1,105 U.S. likely voters was conducted on April 21-23, 2024, by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.