US midterms 2026: What polls reveal about Democratic, Republican voters

From the economy and cost of living to immigration, polls show where American voters agree and disagree.

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Americans will vote in the US midterm elections on Tuesday, with the economy, the cost of living, and immigration among the top issues. While Democrats and Republicans share concerns about the rising cost of living, recent surveys suggest differences in how they view the economy, President Donald Trump, and other key issues.

In an NBC poll released on Sunday, 75 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the state of the US economy, and 51 percent said they were dissatisfied with their personal financial situation.

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Other surveys conducted in October also offer a look into how voters from both parties felt about their finances and which issues mattered most.

Here is what we know:

What issues matter most to Democrats and Republicans?

The economy is the main concern for US voters, but Democrats and Republicans vary on the importance of issues like healthcare, immigration, and crime.

A Pew Research Centre survey, conducted between September 28 and October 4, suggested that 84 percent of registered voters considered the economy very important to their midterm vote. It was the top issue for 82 percent of respondents who prefer Republican candidates, and 88 percent for those who back Democrats.

However, the two groups differed on other issues.

About 85 percent of Democratic Party supporters considered the future of democracy very important, compared with 69 percent of Republicans. Healthcare was a priority for 82 percent of Democrats, compared with 53 percent of Republicans.

Republican supporters were more concerned about immigration, with 72 percent saying it was very important, compared with 53 percent of Democrats.

Violent crime was also more important to Republican supporters, at 64 percent, compared with 37 percent Democrats.

A KFF survey , conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent nonprofit, from September 16 to 21, suggested 42 percent of registered voter respondents trusted Democrats more to handle healthcare costs, compared with 22 percent who trusted Republicans.

On the cost of living, 39 percent trusted Democrats more, while 25 percent preferred Republicans.

What grade do Democrats and Republicans give Trump’s second term?

Views of President Trump and his economic policies remain divided along party lines.

In the Pew Research Centre survey, 91 percent of Democratic respondents and those who leaned Democratic believed Trump’s economic policies had made things worse.

Among Republican supporters, 39 percent said his policies had improved the economy, 35 percent said they made conditions worse, and 25 percent said they had little effect.

In the November 1 NBC News poll, 40 percent of registered-voter respondents approved of Trump’s overall job performance, compared with 60 percent who disapproved.

How do Democrats and Republicans feel about the economy?

Americans are concerned about rising costs, but Democrats are more likely than Republicans to express negative feelings about economic conditions.

In an October Pew Research survey , 36 percent of Republicans rated the US economy as excellent or good, compared with just 9 percent of Democrats or Democrat-leaning voters.

However, the majority in both groups expressed concern about the cost of essential goods and services.

According to PEW, 82 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners were concerned about food and consumer prices, compared with 62 percent of Republicans and Republican leaners.

Healthcare costs concerned 80 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans, while petrol and energy prices worried 81 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of Republicans.

A Fox News poll released on October 14 also had 74 percent of registered voter respondents rating the economy negatively, and 60 percent identified the cost of living as their biggest economic concern.

The November 1 NBC News poll found that 53 percent of Republican respondents were dissatisfied with the state of the economy.

The Pew Research Center also found that abortion and gun policy were less central to Democratic respondents in comparison with 2022. Among Republican voters, education policy and energy policy were less important than they were four years ago.

Are Americans satisfied with their financial situation?

In the NBC poll, 51 percent of registered voters were dissatisfied with their personal financial situation, compared with 49 percent who were satisfied.

It was the first time in 30 years of NBC polling that dissatisfaction with personal finances outweighed satisfaction.

In an NPR/PBS News/Marist poll on October 19-20, 38 percent of likely voters said their finances had gotten worse over the past year, 44 percent said they had remained about the same, and 15 percent said they had improved.

A total of 51 percent of Democratic likely voters said their finances had deteriorated, compared with 21 percent of Republicans.

In a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted from September 30 to October 5, 71 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans said their incomes had not kept pace with rising prices.

Eric Ham, a former Democratic congressional staffer and Senate national security adviser, said that Trump’s global tariffs and the US-Israel war on Iran had added to the financial pressure on American households.

“Americans are paying more not just in terms of self-inflicted wounds that President Donald Trump implemented through tariffs, but also if you look at this war of choice,” Ham told Al Jazeera.

Are Democrats or Republicans more enthusiastic about voting?

Democratic voters reported higher enthusiasm about participating in the elections.

In the Marist poll, 91 percent of likely Democratic voters were enthusiastic or very enthusiastic, compared with 86 percent of Republicans and 76 percent of Independents.

John Fury, a former Republican congressional staffer, said the final days of campaigning were focused on turnout.

“This is not a persuasion election. This is a get-out-the base election,” Fury said.

In a KFF survey, Democratic candidate supporters were 25 percentage points more likely than Republican supporters to describe themselves as “more motivated” than usual to vote (63 percent versus 38 percent).

The November 1 NBC News poll also reported high interest in the elections, with 70 percent of registered voters rating their interest at nine or 10 on a 10-point scale.

Who are Americans planning to vote for?

Surveys conducted in the final weeks before the election suggested voters preferred Democratic candidates or Democratic control of Congress over Republicans.

An NBC poll conducted on October 28-30 and published on November 1 suggested that 52 percent of registered voters preferred Democratic control of Congress compared with 45 percent who preferred Republican control.

Similarly, the Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from October 22 to October 26 suggested that 53 percent of likely voters would vote for or lean towards the Democratic candidates in their district, compared with 44 percent who supported Republicans.

These surveys measure voting sentiment, but they do not reflect the results of the individual races.

从经济和生活成本到移民问题，民意调查显示了美国选民在哪些方面达成共识，在哪些方面存在分歧。

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美国全国广播公司（NBC）周日公布的一项民意调查显示，75%的受访者对美国经济状况不满意，51%的受访者对自己的个人财务状况不满意。

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10 月份进行的其他调查也让我们得以了解两党选民对自己财务状况的看法以及他们最关心的问题。

我们目前掌握的情况如下：

民主党人和共和党人最关心哪些问题？

经济是美国选民最关心的问题，但民主党人和共和党人在医疗保健、移民和犯罪等问题的重要性上存在分歧。

皮尤研究中心9月28日至10月4日进行的一项调查显示，84%的登记选民认为经济问题对他们的中期选举投票至关重要。在支持共和党候选人的受访者中，82%的人将经济问题列为首要考虑因素；而在支持民主党候选人的受访者中，这一比例高达88%。

然而，这两个群体在其他问题上存在分歧。

约85%的民主党支持者认为民主的未来非常重要，而持相同观点的共和党人仅占69%。82%的民主党人将医疗保健视为优先事项，而持相同观点的共和党人仅占53%。

共和党支持者更关注移民问题，72% 的人认为移民问题非常重要，而持相同观点的民主党人仅占 53%。

暴力犯罪对共和党支持者来说也更为重要，占比 64%，而民主党支持者中只有 37% 的人认为暴力犯罪同样重要。

凯撒家庭基金会（一家独立的非营利组织）于 9 月 16 日至 21 日进行的一项调查显示，42% 的注册选民受访者更信任民主党人处理医疗保健费用，而信任共和党人的受访者仅占 22%。

在生活成本方面，39%的人更信任民主党人，而25%的人更倾向于共和党人。

民主党人和共和党人给特朗普的第二个任期打几分？

对于特朗普总统及其经济政策的看法仍然存在明显的党派分歧。

皮尤研究中心的一项调查显示，91%的民主党受访者和倾向于民主党的受访者认为特朗普的经济政策使情况变得更糟。

在共和党支持者中，39%的人认为他的政策改善了经济，35%的人认为他的政策使经济状况恶化，25%的人认为他的政策几乎没有影响。

11 月 1 日 NBC 新闻民调显示，40% 的注册选民受访者认可特朗普的整体工作表现，而 60% 的受访者不认可。

民主党人和共和党人对经济有何看法？

美国人担忧物价上涨，但民主党人比共和党人更有可能对经济状况表达负面情绪。

皮尤研究中心 10 月份的一项调查显示，36% 的共和党人认为美国经济优秀或良好，而持相同观点的民主党人或倾向民主党的选民仅占 9%。

然而，两个群体中的大多数人都对必需品和服务的成本表示担忧。

根据皮尤研究中心的数据，82%的民主党人和倾向于民主党的选民对食品和消费价格感到担忧，而共和党人和倾向于共和党的选民中只有62%的人对此感到担忧。

80%的民主党人和57%的共和党人对医疗保健成本感到担忧，而81%的民主党人和65%的共和党人对汽油和能源价格感到担忧。

10 月 14 日公布的一项福克斯新闻民意调查显示，74% 的注册选民受访者对经济状况持负面评价，60% 的人认为生活成本是他们最大的经济担忧。

11月1日NBC新闻民调显示，53%的共和党受访者对当前的经济状况感到不满。

皮尤研究中心还发现，与 2022 年相比，堕胎和枪支政策对民主党受访者的重要性有所下降。在共和党选民中，教育政策和能源政策的重要性也低于四年前。

美国人对自己的财务状况满意吗？

美国全国广播公司 (NBC) 的民意调查显示，51% 的注册选民对自己的个人财务状况不满意，而 49% 的注册选民表示满意。

这是NBC民意调查30年来首次出现对个人财务状况不满超过满意的情况。

在 10 月 19 日至 20 日 NPR/PBS 新闻/马里斯特民意调查中，38% 的可能选民表示，他们的财务状况在过去一年中恶化了，44% 的人表示财务状况基本保持不变，15% 的人表示财务状况有所改善。

共有 51% 的民主党潜在选民表示他们的财务状况恶化，而持此观点的共和党选民仅占 21%。

路透社/益普索于 9 月 30 日至 10 月 5 日进行的一项调查显示，71% 的民主党人和 57% 的共和党人表示，他们的收入增长速度跟不上物价上涨的速度。

曾任民主党国会工作人员和参议院国家安全顾问的埃里克·哈姆表示，特朗普的全球关税政策以及美以对伊朗的战争加剧了美国家庭的经济压力。

“美国人付出的代价不仅体现在唐纳德·特朗普总统通过关税实施的自残行为上，还体现在这场战争的选择上，”哈姆告诉半岛电视台。

民主党人和共和党人，谁的投票热情更高？

民主党选民对参与选举表现出更高的热情。

在马里斯特民意调查中，91% 的民主党潜在选民表示热情或非常热情，而共和党人和独立选民的这一比例分别为 86% 和 76%。

前共和党国会工作人员约翰·弗瑞表示，竞选活动的最后几天重点是提高投票率。

“这不是一场说服选民的选举，而是一场动员基本盘选民的选举，”弗瑞说道。

KFF 的一项调查显示，民主党候选人的支持者比共和党候选人的支持者更有可能表示自己比平时“更有动力”去投票（63% 对 38%），比例高出 25 个百分点。

11 月 1 日 NBC 新闻民调也显示，民众对选举的关注度很高，70% 的注册选民在 10 分制的关注度评分中给出了 9 分或 10 分。

美国人计划投票给谁？

选举前最后几周进行的民意调查显示，选民更倾向于民主党候选人或民主党控制国会，而不是共和党。

美国全国广播公司 (NBC) 于 10 月 28 日至 30 日进行的民意调查（11 月 1 日公布）显示，52% 的注册选民倾向于民主党控制国会，而 45% 的注册选民倾向于共和党控制国会。

同样，路透社/益普索于 10 月 22 日至 26 日进行的民意调查显示，53% 的可能选民会投票给或倾向于本选区的民主党候选人，而支持共和党候选人的选民比例为 44%。

这些调查衡量的是投票意向，但它们并不能反映具体选举的结果。