37% Hold Favorable View of Boehner, 31% Say Same of Pelosi

It’s been nearly a year since she was arguably the most powerful person in Congress, but former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remains the best-known and most unpopular congressional leader. She continues to hold a double-digit lead in terms of unfavorables over John Boehner who took her place as speaker.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 62% of Likely U.S. Voters share at least a somewhat unfavorable opinion of Pelosi, with 48% who view her Very Unfavorably. The San Francisco Democrat is seen at least somewhat favorably by just 31%, including eleven percent (11%) with a Very Favorable opinion of her.

These findings are little changed from last month and consistent with surveys since early 2009, due in some degree to Pelosi’s high name recognition.  Just nine percent (9%) of voters have no opinion of the current House minority leader. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

By comparison, Boehner, the Ohio Republican who became speaker in January, is viewed at least somewhat unfavorably by 42% and at least somewhat favorably by 37%. This includes 21% with a Very Unfavorable opinion of him and 10% with a Very Favorable one. But 20% still don’t know enough about him to venture any kind of opinion. These findings are in line with monthly surveys since March.  But when Boehner took over as speaker from Pelosi, he enjoyed a 45% favorable rating and unfavorables of 34%.

The other senior congressional Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is even less well-known than Boehner but remains more unpopular. Twenty-four percent (24%) hold at least a somewhat favorable view of the Nevada senator, but 51% regard him at least somewhat unfavorably.  Reid is seen Very Favorably by just seven percent (7%) and Very Unfavorably by 36%, even though 26% of voters have no opinion of him. The latest numbers for Reid are generally comparable to findings since early 2009.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell remains the least-known congressional leader but also continues to be seen more unfavorably than favorably by voters.  Thirty-one percent (31%) share at least a somewhat favorable view of the Kentucky Republican, with only seven percent (7%) who hold a Very Favorable opinion. McConnell is seen at least somewhat unfavorably by 36%, including 16% with a Very Unfavorable regard for him. But nearly one-out-of-three voters (32%) have no opinion of the longtime legislator.

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The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on November 30-December 1, 2011 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. See methodology.