Who turned out and who tuned into the 1994 Congressional election and campaign.

With few exceptions, American voters were not very pleased with the way the press covered the fall election campaign. Exit surveys, which questioned over 20,000 voters as they left the polling booth, found the media getting average or below average grades for its work on the midterm elections. Fewer than half of respondents in Times Mirror Center sponsored surveys in 11 of 12 states gave the press a “grade” of A or B for its election coverage. The news media only managed to get good grades from a majority of the voters for its coverage of the Massachusetts Senate race.

Going into the final days of the campaign, a nationwide Times Mirror survey finds the Republican party with about enough popular support to capture control of the House of Representatives, but not enough to guarantee such an outcome. Further, the trends observed in the survey suggest that the Democrats may narrow the margin even more. Most importantly, the GOP edge in support over the Democrats has consistently diminished in polls conducted over the course of the past four weeks. Secondly, the percentage of undecided voters has increased in each survey, which is unusual and suggests an unsettled electorate. Third, the percentage of voters saying they would like to see their incumbent re-elected has also improved since early October.

The latest nationwide Times Mirror Center voter survey reveals considerably more support for Democratic congressional candidates than just a few weeks ago. But the survey continues to show an unprecedented plurality of registered voters inclined to vote Republican. More importantly, as the election nears, it also finds the GOP with a sizeable lead over the Democrats among people most likely to go to the polls.

A majority of Americans say they are inclined to vote for a Republican congressional candidate this fall. If they act on their intentions, it will be the first time in modern political history that the GOP carries the popular vote.