Multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against powerful men in the film industry, the news media, politics, sports and business has caused a seismic shift in how Americans view the problem and it could change the complexion of the 2018 midterm elections, according to the director of a new national poll. The USA Today/Suffolk University Poll shows nearly three in four people think sexual impropriety is a major problem that needs serious solutions. Democrats and Republicans across all demographics were united on the issue, according to the poll. Only one in five respondents said too much has been made of the allegations, the poll said.

Poll director David Paleologos, who runs the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston, told Patch the results suggest more women in both major political parties may be elected in the 2018 midterm elections.

“If this issue has legs — if it continues throughout the next year — it has a very good chance of impacting the gender imbalance we see in Congress and in many of the statehouses,” Paleologos said. “The only thing that would abate the movement is if there were repeated allegations that were false or proved to be false, and there’s a possibility there would be a backlash.”

Currently, women hold 19.3 percent of seats in the House of Representatives and 21 percent of the seats in the Senate. In the nation’s 50 statehouses, women held only about a quarter of seats in 2017, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

David Paleologos is the director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center (SUPRC), where he has worked since 2002 conducting statewide polls and bellwether survey analyses in Massachusetts and elsewhere. SUPRC presidential primary polls have predicted outcomes in many key battleground states. SUPRC’s cutting-edge survey research has gained both national and international attention for its high degree of accuracy. SUPRC results have been reported on by hundreds of major news organizations on television, radio, in print, and online. The SUPRC bellwether model, authored by David, is designed to predict outcomes, not margins of victory. Used both locally and nationally, the model has an 85% accuracy rating in predicting straight-up winners. In addition to his duties as director of the research center, David is also a lecturer in the College of Arts & Sciences’ Government Department, where he teaches Political Survey Research. In this intensive, immersive course, students create, implement and analyze their own survey during the semester, and experts in the field, including campaign staffers, candidates, fundraisers, and media luminaries, frequently guest lecture.