By Jason Lange
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democrats appear more fired up than Republicans about voting in next year’s congressional elections following the party’s victories in recent state and local contests, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, which showed Republican President Donald Trump’s approval steady at 40%.
The six-day poll, which closed on Wednesday, showed 44% of registered voters who called themselves Democrats said they were “very enthusiastic” about voting in the November 3, 2026, elections, compared with 26% of Republicans who said the same. Some 79% of Democrats said they would regret it if they didn’t vote in the election, compared to 68% of Republicans.
All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will be up for grabs next year, as will 35 seats in the 100-member U.S. Senate. Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress.
Democrats have largely been in the doldrums since Trump won last year’s presidential election, but the party’s spirits were lifted in the November 4 elections when Democrats swept to victory in Virginia and New Jersey governors’ races, as well as in New York City’s mayoral contest.
Voters in Democratic-dominated California approved a measure to redraw congressional districts that will likely favor the party, with the state’s governor billing the measure as a way to counter Republican-led efforts to redraw districts in other states.
The midterm elections are still a year away, and both parties appear close to evenly matched on many fronts. Asked who they would vote for in congressional elections if the election were held today, 41% of registered voters said they’d pick the Democratic candidate and 40% said the Republican candidate, well within the poll’s 3-percentage-point margin of error.
COST IS VOTERS’ TOP CONCERN
Kitchen table issues appear to be the top concern for voters, with 45% saying the most important factor for deciding their vote will be a candidate’s position on the cost of living. On that issue, 38% of registered voters said Democrats had a better plan, while 36% said Republicans were better.
Voters picked 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 elections. By comparison, 26% said the most important issue would be democratic values and norms, and voters overall favored Democrats on that issue 43% to 34%.
Trump’s approval rating remained at the lowest level since his term started in January. His popularity has been within a percentage point or two of its current level in every Reuters/Ipsos poll since mid-May. The share of people who say they disapprove of his performance has grown, from 52% in a May 16-18 poll to 58% in the latest survey.
The president won last year’s election on promises to tackle the surge in inflation that damaged his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden. But Americans give Trump exceptionally low marks on how he has managed the costs weighing on U.S. households, with 62% of the country disapproving of his handling of the cost of living. The pace of inflation has edged higher since Trump took office in January, even as the job market has weakened.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll closed just before Congress voted to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The episode sowed division within the Democratic Party, with eight Democratic U.S. senators on Monday siding with Republicans to break an impasse over government funding.
DEMOCRATS’ DOUBTS DIMINISH
Compared to earlier in the year, the poll showed a little less self-doubt among Democrats. The latest poll showed 39% of Democratic voters said they agreed with a statement that the party “has lost its way,” compared to 49% in an August poll. Among Republicans, 22% said their party has lost its way, little changed from 19% in August.
The poll found that Democrats viewed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, just as favorably as they viewed Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, at 67% compared to 65%, respectively.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,200 U.S. adults nationwide online.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; editing by Scott Malone and Aurora Ellis)
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