Approval of the Congress is down roughly 12 points from where it was a year ago and disapproval is up 11 points.
| Approve | Disapprove | |
|---|---|---|
| Real Clear Pol. 8/2/22 | 19.6% | 71.0% |
| Real Clear Pol. 6/15/22 | 21.2% | 69.0% |
| Real Clear Pol. 5/17/22 | 22.4% | 68.0% |
| Real Clear Pol. 4/16/22 | 22.2% | 67.5% |
| Real Clear Pol. 3/15/22 | 21.8% | 67.8% |
| Real Clear Pol. 2/18/22 | 20.8% | 68.3% |
| Real Clear Pol. 1/17/22 | 22.4% | 66.4% |
| Real Clear Pol. 12/21/21 | 23.0% | 65.8% |
| Real Clear Pol. 11/30/21 | 22.2% | 68.6% |
| Real Clear Pol. 10/12/21 | 25.0% | 65.8% |
| Real Clear Pol. 9/1/21 | 28.5% | 60.3% |
| Real Clear Pol. 8/3/21 | 31.4% | 59.6% |
| Real Clear Pol. 6/15/21 | 28.8% | 60.5% |
The House of Representatives
Are there no limits? Apparently not.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has taken to providing financial support to candidates running in Republican primaries who the DCCC thinks will be the weaker in the general election.
One of the most questionable decisions was to support the opponent of Representative Peter Meijer who was one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump.
The DCCC spent more on the race than the other Republican candidate, John Gibbs, a far-right candidate.
Will these actions by the DCCC have a negative impact on its future fundraising? [WW]
Washington Watch uses the Cook Political Report for its report on elections in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Currently:
- Democrats – 220 seats
- Republicans – 211 seats
- Vacancies – 4 seats
As of 8/3/22, there are currently 61 seats in which House incumbents have announced they are not running for re-election. 25 of those seats are currently held by Republicans and 36 by Democrats.
| Democrat | Republican | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Solid Democrat | 162 | Solid Republican | 191 |
| Likely Dem | 13 | Likely GOP | 13 |
| Lean Dem | 12 | Lean GOP | 11 |
| Dem Toss up | 26 | GOP Toss up | 7 |
| Total | 213 | Total | 222 |
The Senate
Among the 10 most popular Senators, 7 are Republicans, 1 is a Democrat, and 2 are Independents. Among the 10 most unpopular Senators, 8 are Republicans and 2 are Democrats.
10 Most Popular Senators
| Approve | Don’t Know | Disapprove | |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Barrasso (R-WY) | 70% | 7% | 23% |
| Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) | 63 | 12 | 25 |
| Mike Rounds (R-SD) | 60 | 8 | 32 |
| John Thune (R-SD) | 60 | 6 | 33 |
| John Hoeven (R-ND) | 57 | 10 | 32 |
| Patrick Leahy (D-VT) | 56 | 13 | 31 |
| Bernard Sanders (I-VT) | 56 | 10 | 34 |
| Angus King (I-ME) | 56 | 10 | 34 |
| John Kennedy (R-LA) | 54 | 17 | 29 |
| Shelley M. Capito (R-WV) | 54 | 17 | 29 |
10 Most Unpopular Senators
| Approve | Disapprove | Don’t Know | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitch McConnell (R-KY) | 31% | 7% | 62% |
| Ron Johnson (R-WI) | 37 | 10 | 53 |
| Susan Collins (R-ME) | 43 | 6 | 51 |
| Ben Sasse (R-NE) | 39 | 14 | 48 |
| Lindsey Graham (R-SC) | 43 | 10 | 47 |
| Patrick Toomey (R-UT) | 35 | 20 | 45 |
| Mitt Romney (R-UT) | 43 | 11 | 45 |
| Ted Cruz (R-TX) | 45 | 10 | 44 |
| Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) | 41 | 16 | 43 |
| Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) | 41 | 16 | 43 |
[Morning Consult]
WW uses Jessica Taylor of the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections, for the Senate chart below. When those two organizations do not agree, WW uses Sabato as a tie breaker.
- Republicans – 50
- Democrats – 48
- Independents – 2
Six U.S. Senators are retiring from public office; 1 Democrat and 5 Republicans. None are running for other office.
| Democrats | Republicans | Independent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seats not up in 2022 | 34 | 30 | 2 |
| Safe in 2022 | 9 | 14 | |
| Padilla | Murkowski | ||
| Murray | AL – open | ||
| Blumenthal | Boozman | ||
| Schatz | Grassley | ||
| Duckworth | Crapo | ||
| Van Hollen | Young | ||
| Schumer | Moran | ||
| Wyden | Paul | ||
| VT – open | Kennedy | ||
| Hoeven | |||
| OK – open | |||
| MO – open | |||
| Scott | |||
| Thune | |||
| Lee | |||
| Likely | 1 | 2 | |
| Bennet | Rubio | ||
| OH – open | |||
| Lean | 1 | 1 | |
| Hassan | NC – open | ||
| Toss Up | 3 | 2 | |
| Cortez Masto | Johnson | ||
| Warnock | PA – open | ||
| Kelly |