With Americans in a Sour Mood, Democratic Voters Are More Engaged in Midterms

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by Aditya

Pew Research Center analyzes Americans’ engagement with the upcoming midterm elections, assessments of the country’s condition, and attitudes toward political parties and Donald Trump’s presidency. The survey of 5,062 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, 2026, including 3,917 registered voters, finds deep dissatisfaction, strong Democratic engagement and motivation to vote, and economic concerns shaping voting priorities across party lines.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryForms

FormatPDF

Pages60

Reading Time21 min

AccessFree to download

About this research

Why did we do this?

How did we do this?

Key findings on engagement and vote preferences

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 8, 2026 BY Jocelyn Kiley, Steven Shepard, Andrew Daniller and Hannah Hartig FOR MEDIA OR OTHER INQUIRIES: Jocelyn Kiley, Director of Political Research Steven Shepard, Associate Director of Political Research Nida Asheer, Senior Communications Manager 202.419.4372 [www.pewresearch.org](www.pewresearch.org) RECOMMENDED CITATION Pew Research Center, October 2026, “With Americans in a Sour Mood, Democratic Voters Are More Engaged in Midterms” About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, computational social science research and other data-driven research. It studies politics and policy; news habits and media; the internet and technology; religion; race and ethnicity; international affairs; social, demographic and economic trends; science; research methodology and data science; and immigration and migration. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. © Pew Research Center 2026 About this research This Pew Research Center analysis examines Americans’ engagement with the upcoming midterm elections, views of the state of the country, and attitudes about the political parties and Donald Trump’s presidency. Why did we do this? Pew Research Center conducts research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. We have studied Americans’ views of politics and major policy issues for decades. Learn more about Pew Research Center. How did we do this? We surveyed 5,062 U.S. adults, including 3,917 registered voters, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, 2026. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population. Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology. The 2026 midterm election is taking place amid deep public dissatisfaction with the state of the nation, near-record low approval ratings of President Donald Trump, and growing negativity about national economic conditions and the ongoing conflict with Iran. Against this backdrop, Democratic candidates now hold an 8 percentage point edge over Republican candidates in preferences for the House of Representatives among all registered voters nationally. And while many registered voters will not turn out to vote this fall, Democratic candidates are also buoyed by their supporters’ relatively high levels of engagement and stated motivation to vote when compared with those who are backing Republican candidates. For example: ▪ 78% of voters who back their House district’s Democratic candidate say it “really matters” which party wins control of Congress – 9 points higher than the share of Republican backers who say this. ▪ In contrast, Republican candidate supporters were 4 points higher on this measure than Democratic supporters at a similar point before the 2022 midterm election. The partisan gap is also wide on other measures of engagement: Democratic supporters are 14 points more likely than Republican supporters to say they have given this year’s election “a lot”of thought and 17 points more likely to say they are “extremely motivated” to vote this year. A new Pew Research Center survey of 5,062 U.S. adults – including 3,917 registered voters – conducted Sept. 28-Oct. 4, 2026, also finds that Donald Trump’s approval rating now stands at 30% – the lowest of his second term. Most voters (63%) consider Trump a factor in their vote for Congress, with far more thinking of their choice as a vote against the president (44%) than for him (19%) . As economic ratings turn more negative and concerns about prices rise – particularly for gas and energy – the economy continues to rank as the top vo

FAQs

What does the Pew Research Center analysis focus on?

It examines Americans’ engagement with the upcoming midterm elections, views of the state of the country, and attitudes about political parties and Donald Trump’s presidency.

How was the survey conducted?

Pew surveyed 5,062 U.S. adults, including 3,917 registered voters, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, 2026, through the Center’s American Trends Panel.

What is the relationship between party support and engagement in the election?

Democratic supporters show higher engagement and motivation to vote than Republican supporters across multiple measures described in the analysis.

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by Aditya