---
title: "Republicans’ Concern About Lobbyists Rises"
description: "Reducing the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups in Washington is now a much higher priority among Republicans than it was a year ago; roughly four-in-ten Republicans (42%) currently rate such efforts a top priority, up from 28% in January 2007."
date: "2008-02-21"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2008/02/21/republicans-concern-about-lobbyists-rises/"
---

# Republicans’ Concern About Lobbyists Rises

Reducing the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups in Washington is now a much higher priority among Republicans than it was in January 2007; roughly four-in-ten Republicans (42%) currently rate such efforts a top priority, up from 28% a year ago. Republicans are now somewhat more likely than Democrats to rate this as a major priority (36% of Democrats now do so), a recent Pew poll finds. Last year, a higher percentage of Democrats (44%) than Republicans (28%) said that reining in special interests should be a top priority.[Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/693/republican-primary)