Fast start: Voters like Speaker Johnson ‘better’ than McCarthy

America’s voters are giving new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) the benefit of the doubt, believing that he will be better than any other House leader.

Virtually unknown to most voters before his election two weeks ago, nearly half of all likely voters give him the thumbs up, ignoring the mud his critics and the media have thrown at him, including snarky comments about his devotion to the Bible.

NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER: SIX THINGS TO WATCH ON ELECTION DAY

In the latest Rasmussen Reports daily survey shared with Secrets, 47% of likely voters said that they have a favorable opinion of the 56th speaker. That includes 63% of Republicans and 35% of Democrats.

Many also believe that he will be better in the job than ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, including 57% of Republicans.

Ron Bonjean, a GOP adviser and a former House and Senate leadership chief communicator, told us, “Voters like Speaker Johnson because he’s relatively unknown and doesn’t have the negative associations with Washington just yet. These ratings show just how much Americans are looking for new leadership to make Washington work instead of constantly being a dysfunctional body.”

As speaker so far, Johnson has tried to lay out a less confrontational agenda and steady the party’s approach to the budget. But he has also played hardball with critics, for example dismissing the administration’s demand for a massive spending bill for Ukraine, Israel, and the border. He moved instead to break that up into separate bills.

SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS

Rasmussen also said that Johnson is much more popular than other congressional leaders.

“In September, McCarthy was viewed favorably by 40% of voters. All the other top congressional leaders — House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (34%), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (37%) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (26%) — had lower favorability ratings in July,” the survey said.