Support for a third major party has reached a record high as Democrats and Republicans feud over reopening the government.
A majority of Americans want a third major party, a new Gallup poll found.
Marking the highest point in the Gallup poll’s ten-year history, 60% of Americans said they think Democrats and Republicans aren’t doing “an adequate job of representing the American people” and do “such a poor job that a third major party is needed.”
The poll surveyed 1,028 adults from Oct. 3-6, just days into a federal government shutdown that has lasted a full two weeks.
Just 26% of Americans said the country’s two major parties were representing Americans.
Self-identified Democrats and Republicans were equally likely to see the need for a third party—49% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans said they saw the need for a third party—but a full 71% of Independents supported the idea of a third party.
