The poll says 16 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. Poll: Congress historic midterm low

Congressional approval rating has hit its lowest mark in a midterm election year in at least 40 years, a new poll found.

According to a Gallup poll on Monday, 16 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing — the lowest rating in a midterm year since the firm began tracking the question in 1974. That’s down from 21 percent in 2010 and a high-water mark of 50 percent in 2002.


The survey comes after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor — whom many political observers thought would sail to reelection — lost to political novice Dave Brat in a shocking Republican primary for Virginia’s 7th district. Gallup reports that low congressional approval rating correlates with a higher incumbent losing percentage.

( Also on POLITICO: Behind Cantor's campaign meltdown)

The findings are largely in line with a May Gallup poll that found that only 22 percent of Americans thought that most members of Congress deserve reelection, the lowest percentage Gallup has ever measured.

Americans also remain dissatisfied with the direction of the country, the poll says. Twenty-three percent of those surveyed are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S., up just one point from 2010.

The poll also found that 44 percent of Americans think the economy is the most important problem in the U.S. That mark is far lower than the 69 percent of 2010, but at least 15 points higher than scores in 2006, 2002 and 1998.

The survey was conducted June 5-8 with 1,027 adults on landlines and cellphones. The margin for error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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Eric Cantor