How Popular Is Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy?

In a historic first, a coalition of Democrats and Republicans decided to vote out House Speaker Kevin McCarthy with a 216-to-210 vote. As our chart based on a recent YouGov survey shows, many U.S. residents are not too fond of McCarthy either or haven't given the issue any thought recently.

Only six percent of U.S. adults surveyed held McCarthy in a very favorable light, while 20 percent held a somewhat favorable opinion of the lawmaker. On the other hand, almost half of the survey participants had an unfavorable opinion of Congressman McCarthy, while a quarter of respondents had no fixed opinion.

McCarthy had been elected Speaker in January after 15 election rounds in a further blow to his party's public image. Republicans already performed worse than expected in the past year's midterm elections, failing to flip the Senate after the 2020 midterms secured the Democrats a narrow majority and only gaining nine seats in the House.

In part due to McCarthy's bipartisan agreement with the Biden administration to prevent a government shutdown, a group of Republican lawmakers led by Florida's far-right Representative Matt Gaetz joined 208 Democrats in the vote. According to Reuters reporting, McCarthy won't run for speaker again while a new vote on his successor is scheduled for October 11.