Support for the tea party has fallen to its lowest point since the emergence of the movement reshaped modern American politics, according to new polling from Gallup.

Just 17 percent of those surveyed this month said they considered themselves supporters of the tea party, according to data released Monday, while 24 percent said they opposed the group.

The tea party first played a major role in the November 2010 midterms, ushering in a wave of conservative lawmakers to federal and local office. The group peaked in popularity that month, with 32 percent support among those surveyed by Gallup.

At the time, Americans said they opposed the group or felt neutral about it in approximately equal measure, at 30 percent and 31 percent, respectively.



Courtesy of Gallup. Courtesy of Gallup

But even while at its most popular, the movement only managed favorability among slightly more than half of those who identified themselves as Republican or leaned Republican, at 52 percent.

The ultimate effect of that ideological split within the party has been to yank more moderate GOP lawmakers to the right as they're faced with more ideological electorates – particularly in midterm and local elections, which attract smaller numbers of voters who are more likely to be politically engaged and hold beliefs that are more extreme.

Moderate Republicans, particularly in 2010 and 2014, attracted primary challengers from the right, and the GOP overall earned a large majority in the 114th Congress. What's more, both the House and Senate in 2015 have featured the fewest centrist Republicans since around the end of Reconstruction, according to a measure of ideology based on voting behavior and developed by political scientists Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal.



Courtesy of Keith Poole/Howard Rosenthal/VoteView. Courtesy of Keith Poole/Howard Rosenthal/VoteView