GOP districts won by Biden less likely to back members who support impeachment inquiry: Poll

EXCLUSIVE — Voters who live in districts won by President Joe Biden in 2020 but are now held by Republicans in the House are less likely to support candidates who vote to open an impeachment inquiry into the president, a new poll reveals.

Roughly 44% of voters across 17 GOP-held districts that voted for Biden say they’d be less likely to vote for a member of Congress who backed the impeachment inquiry compared to just 24% who said they’d be more likely to back them, according to independent polling conducted by Public Policy Polling that was first obtained by the Washington Examiner. Only 26% said it wouldn’t make a difference, while 6% were not sure.

BIDEN LOSING YOUNG VOTERS TO TRUMP AS HE FALLS BEHIND IN TWO SWING STATES

The polling comes as the House prepares to vote on legislation this week that would formalize the impeachment inquiry into the president, putting pressure on vulnerable Republicans running for reelection in districts won by Biden in 2020. A majority of voters in those districts (52%) say opening an inquiry would be more of a partisan political student rather than an effort to hold Biden accountable, the poll shows, which includes 53% of independents — a crucial voting bloc for Republicans seeking reelection in those districts.

Instead, nearly three-fourths of those voters say Congress should focus more on other topics, such as the economy, inflation, crime, and securing the southern border.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced he would approve a vote to open the congressional inquiry into Biden earlier this month despite reportedly telling Republicans behind closed doors last month he did not think there was enough evidence to move forward with the proceedings.

That decision could also harm vulnerable Republicans in the Biden-won districts as a majority of voters (54%) say they don’t trust Johnson to be fair in the inquiry compared to 30% who said he would be, according to the poll. Another 16% said they were unsure.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Johnson’s office for comment, but it has not received a response.

The impeachment inquiry is looking into whether Biden improperly used his position of power to enrich himself and his family, whether he used his influence to pressure the Department of Justice to help his son Hunter Biden, and how involved he was in his family’s foreign business dealings.

It also focuses on an allegation raised in an FBI tip sheet that says Joe Biden, along with Hunter Biden, took bribes from Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company for which Hunter Biden was a board member, to pressure the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor.

The White House has repeatedly pushed back against the impeachment efforts, accusing the speaker of bending his knee to members on his far right, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Democrats have also pushed back on Johnson’s decision, arguing Republicans have not released any new evidence in the last three weeks to justify such a reversal — accusing the speaker of distracting from legislative priorities.

Only 29% of voters in the GOP-held Biden districts say the House should move forward with impeachment even if no evidence is uncovered, compared to 62% who say proceedings should be dropped, according to the poll.

The polling was commissioned by the Democratic-aligned Congressional Integrity Project, whose goal is to push back against Republican efforts to investigate Biden and his family members.

“The MAGA Republican-led House … has accomplished nothing for real people,” Brad Woodhouse, a senior adviser for CIP, said. “They’re getting ready to leave Washington for another long vacation, and one of their final acts will be to help the only person they seem to care about, Donald Trump, by approving an evidence-free impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. These members should know that this new poll shows a majority of voters from swing districts see this play exactly for what it is: a stunt designed to hurt Joe Biden politically which undermines real priorities these voters care about — and it’s a political loser.”

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The poll surveyed 613 registered voters in the 17 GOP-held districts won by Biden between Friday and Saturday.

Those districts include the ones held by Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), John Duarte (R-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Mike Garcia (R-CA), Tom Kean, Jr. (R-NJ), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Young Kim (R-CA), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Marc Molinaro (R-NY), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Michelle Steel (R-CA), David Valadao (R-CA), and Brandon Williams (R-NY).