The latest Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service Battleground Civility Poll shows that after the intense political rhetoric over recent months, feelings of division among voters dropped significantly.
The poll, conducted by Republican pollsters from Tarrance Group and Democrat pollsters from Lake Research Partners, found that voters found President Trump to be the more effective messenger on key issues like the ability to get things done, the economy and immigration. Vice President Harris, alternatively, outperformed Trump on a number of personality measurements including unifying the country, caring about people like me, and sharing my values.
“The results of this poll show clearly the choice Americans made in November,” said Mo Elleithee, Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service. “In their view, getting things done trumped civility in this election. While many saw Vice President Harris as the unifier or the candidate that most shared their values, voters saw President Trump as someone who would move the needle on the issues most concerning to them.”
These results when paired with the outcomes of the November elections indicate that while voters still value civility, with 95% saying that President Trump and members of both parties in Congress should work together to solve major problems, voters placed an emphasis on electing a candidate to address issues over electing a unifying candidate this year.
Despite that, voters feel polarization in the electorate has improved following Election Day, coming in at a 66.5 out of 100, the lowest mark since April of 2019.
What is the path forward to continue bringing down the political division across the country? Respondents say compromise in Congress.
The most recent Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service Battleground Civility Poll was conducted among 800 registered, likely voters nationwide between November 12 – 18th, 2024 and has a margin of error of 3.5%. The poll was conducted by Republican pollster and former GU Politics Fellow Ed Goeas and Brian Nienaber of the Tarrance Group, and Democratic pollsters Celinda Lake, Daniel Gotoff, Sandra Markowitz, McCauley Pugh, Ronan Ferrentino, and Carolyn Ren of Lake Research Partners.
The poll is made possible by the generous support of American Policy Ventures, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to reducing polarization through more productive policy dialogue across party lines.
To learn more about the poll visit: https://politics.georgetown.edu/battleground-poll/
View the full press release with detailed results here, or click on the links below to view data and individual summaries from Lake Research Partners and The Tarrance Group:
