Vice President Pence’s former spokesman, Marc Lotter, said on Thursday that he believes that polls are not reflecting the actual level of Republican voter enthusiasm ahead of the midterms.
“This feels a lot like ’16 to me again where I don’t think the polls are accurately reflecting the amount of energy, the amount of enthusiasm we’re seeing out there from Republican voters, and people who just like the direction of the country right now,” Lotter told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti on “Rising.”
Lotter’s comments come less than a week before the midterm elections, which are expected to be a referendum on President Trump’s first two years in office.
A Gallup poll released on Thursday found that 74 percent of both Republicans and Democrats said they are “absolutely certain” they will vote in the midterms, while 67 percent of U.S. adults also said they will absolutely vote in the midterms.
Democrats need to pick up 23 seats to win back the majority in the House, but they have an uphill battle in the Senate, where they are defending 10 seats won by President Trump in 2016.
Lotter said he was confident Republicans would do well in the Senate but said the House could go either way for the GOP.
“I think we’re likely to pick up three to five seats in the Senate. In the House, it really is a jump ball right now, and it will come down to a handful of races either way,” he said.
— Julia Manchester
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