1 in 5 Americans has attended a protest or rally since 2016: poll

About 20 percent of Americans say they have attended a protest or political rally since 2016, according to a Washington Post poll released Friday.

The Washington Post–Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that tens of millions of Americans, about 1 in 5, say they have attended an in-person political rally or mass protest since the beginning of 2016.

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Of those Americans, 19 percent said they had never before attended a similar event, suggesting a wave of activism that could be felt in this year’s midterm elections.

Out of the group of Americans who said they have attended a rally or protest since 2016, 70 percent are opposed to President Trump and say they do not support his agenda, compared with 30 percent who said they attended rallies while supporting the president.

A full third of Americans who have protested since the beginning of 2016 say they plan to attend future political events or volunteer for a congressional campaign this year.

“This confirms there is a resistance and that a lot of people want to be associated with it,” Georgetown University history professor Michael Kazin told the Post.

Eighty-nine percent of those surveyed who said they had attended a political event said they planned to vote in the upcoming elections. Democrats are hoping to retake the House and Senate in November; they will need a net gain of 23 seats to take over the majority in the House and a net gain of two seats in the Senate.

Democrats currently hold about an 8-point advantage over Republicans on a generic House ballot, the Cook Political Report notes, and a recent Morning Consult poll showed President Trump with a 41 percent approval rating with 54 percent of those surveyed disapproving of his job as president.

Still, winning back the House could prove a tough climb, and the Senate map heavily favors the GOP, with Democrats defending 26 incumbent seats, compared to only 9 seats for Republicans.