Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, arrives Sept. 9 to speak at the Tea Party Patriots' Rally Against the Iran Deal in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. A poll indicated support for the Tea Party has declined. File photo by Molly Riley/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Support for the conservative Tea Party movement has dropped to its lowest level, with 17 percent of Americans now backing it, a poll released Monday indicates.

About 42 percent of conservative Republicans support the movement, a Gallup poll revealed, a 21 percentpoint drop from the 63 percent who supported the party in 2010.


The Tea Party emerged in 2009 and is regarded as responsible for the Republican Party's 2010 capture of the U.S. House of Representatives. Shortly after the election, support peaked at 32 percent of Americans overall, and has eroded ever since. Opposition to the movement reached 31 percent prior to the 2014 midterm congressional elections, and is now at 24 percent.

A record 54 percent now identify themselves as neither supporters nor opponents.

Respondents who identify themselves as liberal Democrats remain the Tea Party's largest group of opponents -- 59 percent noted their opposition to the movement in the survey, compared to 61 percent in 2010.

The findings may indicate the influence of the Tea Party is waning, though opposition to the movement has changed little. The largest increase in percentage is among those who neither support nor oppose it.

The Gallup poll was based on nationwide telephone interviews conducted between Oct. 7 and 11 of 1,015 adults in the United States. It has a sampling error of 4 percentage points.