More than six in 10 Republicans worry the party’s nomination process is taking a toll on the GOP, according to a new Gallup poll.
A net 63 percent of Republicans and those who lean Republican said the 2016 presidential primary fight between Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich is hurting the party.
The April 15-17 poll is a sharp contrast from the same poll conducted in February 2012 during Mitt Romney’s fight for the nomination, when 40 percent of voters said the campaign was hurting the party.
Approximately six in 10 Trump and Cruz supporters also agreed the campaign was painting the party in a bad light, and a slightly bigger percentage of Kasich’s supporters were worried.
Democrats felt the opposite as Republicans though. Only 24 percent of liberal voters believed their candidates were hurting the party, while 71 percent said Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders’ fight for the nomination has not had a negative impact.
The polls had a 3 percent margin of error.
