A majority of men are happy more women are running for Congress

Women are running for office at an unprecedented rate this year, and most Americans think that's a good thing.

Research published by Pew Research Center on Wednesday found that 61 percent of U.S. adults think more women running for Congress is good, while 33 percent say it's "neither good nor bad." Five percent say it's a bad thing.

The poll results differed by political party and gender. A full 80 percent of Democrats — 83 percent of Democratic women and 75 percent of Democratic men — said more women in politics is good. Meanwhile, 39 percent of Republicans called it good, with only 34 percent of Republican men agreeing. Another 12 percent of Republican men said it was "a bad thing," while 9 percent of Republican women said the same. Large proportions of both genders in the GOP said more women running for office was neither good nor bad. Pew points out that most of the women candidates this year are running as Democrats.

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Most Americans, roughly 55 percent, think having more women in Congress wouldn't affect the government's effectiveness, transparency, or civility, but an average of 36 percent of those polled did say those aspects would improve. Only 10 percent of respondents said the tone of political debate would become "less respectful."

The poll was conducted between June 19-July 2, reaching 4,587 adults by phone. The margin of error is 2.4 percentage points. See more results at Pew Research Center.