Democrats appear to be more motivated than Republicans to vote in next year’s midterm elections after the party’s victories in recent state and local elections, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, which showed Republican President Donald Trump’s approval rating holding steady at 40%.
The six-day poll, which ended Wednesday, showed that 44% of registered voters who identified as Democrats said they were “very excited” to vote in the so-called midterm elections on November 3, 2026, compared to 26% of Republicans who said the same. Among those surveyed, 79% of Democrats said they would regret not voting in the election, compared to 68% of Republicans. 1,200 adults in the USA were consulted online across the country.
All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives are scheduled to be contested next year, as well as 35 seats in the 100-member Senate. Today, Republicans control both chambers, but by a narrow margin.
The Democrats’ performance has been low since Trump won the presidential elections last year, but the party’s morale rose in the November 4 elections, when the Democrats achieved victories in the Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races, as well as in the New York City mayoral elections, with the victory of Zahran Mamdani.
Voters in Democratic-controlled California approved a measure to redraw the electoral map that is likely to favor the party, as Gov. Gavin Newsom floated the measure as a way to counter Republican-led efforts to redraw districts in other states.
The cost of living is a major concern for voters
Day-to-day issues appear to be a top concern for voters, with 45% saying the most important factor in determining their vote would be the candidate’s position on the cost of living. On this issue, 38% of registered voters said that Democrats have a better plan, while 36% said that Republicans have a better plan.
Voters chose Republicans over Democrats — 46% to 34% — when asked which party was better on immigration, but only 14% said that was the most important issue for next year’s election. By comparison, 26% said the most important issue would be democratic values and norms, and voters overall preferred Democrats on that issue by 43% to 34%.
Trump’s approval rating remains at its lowest level since the beginning of his term in January. His popularity has hovered within one or two percentage points of its current level in every Reuters/Ipsos poll since mid-May. The percentage of people who say they disapprove of his performance has risen from 52% in a poll conducted May 16-18 to 58% in the latest poll.
The president won last year’s election on promises to combat rising inflation, which hurt his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. But Americans give Trump exceptionally low marks for how he manages the costs burdening American families, with 62% of Americans disapproving of his management of the costs of living. The pace of inflation has increased since Trump took office in January, even as the labor market has weakened.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was completed shortly before Congress voted to end the longest government shutdown in US history. This incident sowed division within the Democratic Party, as eight Democratic senators joined Republicans on Monday (10) to break the impasse over government funding.
Skepticism about Democrats declines
Compared to the beginning of the year, the poll showed slightly less self-criticism among Democrats. The latest poll showed that 39% of them said they agreed with the statement that the party had “lost its way,” compared to 49% in the August poll. Among Republicans, 22% said their party has lost its way, up slightly from 19% in August.
The poll showed that Democrats viewed New York Mayor-elect Zahran Mamdani, a self-declared socialist, as favorably as they viewed California Governor Gavin Newsom, by 67% and 65%, respectively.
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