A new high of 41% of U.S. adults say it is better to have a president and Congress from the same political party. Twenty-three percent would rather have one party control the presidency and the other control Congress, while 32% say it makes no difference to them…

The prior high in preferences for one-party government occurred in 2012, when incumbent President Barack Obama was running for a second term. One year later, in the midst of a federal government shutdown tied to a dispute over funding the Affordable Care Act, a record-low 25% favored one-party government, with 38% saying it made no difference which parties held the White House and Congress.

Historically, a plurality of Americans have usually said party control of government makes no difference. In addition to 2012 and this year, the other exceptions were 2002 and 2018, both midterm election years, and 2005.