- Recent surveys, including RealClearPolitics averages, show Democrats leading Republicans by only 1.6 points — far fewer than their 9 points they led by before the 2018 midterms.
- NBC News and Wall Street Journal polls found Democrats’ favorability at historic lows. According to NBC, only 27% of voters viewed the party positively.
- A CBS News/YouGov poll found that most Americans describe Democrats as “weak,” the most common word used about the party.
- USA Today columnist Ingrid Jacques argues Democrats’ low enthusiasm and fading protest energy suggest that a comeback at the 2026 midterm elections is unlikely.
After hitting record lows this year in public opinion, the Democratic Party may not be able to recover in the 2026 midterm elections, a columnist at USA Today wrote in a recent op-ed.
Ingrid Jacques compared RealClearPolitics (RCP) polling averages from Oct. 17, 2025, with those on Oct. 17, 2017, which was before midterm elections during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. In 2017, Democrats led by nine points, which netted numerous victories for the party in the 2018 elections. However, this year’s RCP polling average shows Democrats ahead of Republicans by just 1.6 points.
Jacques also noted that Trump’s approval rating is higher than it was during his first term, and Democrats’ favorability has worsened compared with that seen in 2017. According to a NBC News poll from earlier in 2025, just 27% of registered voters have positive views of the Democratic Party — the lowest-ever recorded rating in the history of the poll. As CatholicVote previously reported, the Journal also found Democrats’ favorability to be at an all-time low.
Jacques also wrote, citing an October CBS News/YouGov poll, that the word Americans use more than any other to describe Democrats is “weak.”
“So what’s a Democrat to do? The answer seems to be ‘fight’ and ‘resist,’” she wrote. “Congressional Democratic leaders are banking that the ongoing government shutdown — nearing its third week —- will make them look tough and strong.”
However, Americans are becoming more divided on which political party is to blame for the government shutdown, she noted. While the blame initially fell on Republicans, a recent YouGov/Economist poll found that 39% of respondents say the Republican Party caused the shutdown, compared with 33% who say the same about Democrats.
Nevertheless, even though the “No Kings” protests that swept across the country last weekend could be compared to the 2018 protests that resulted in more Democrats heading to the polls, “this new iteration of the marches doesn’t appear to hold quite the same fervor,” she wrote.
Jacques concluded, “Democrats may detest Trump, but that alone will not build the wave they’ll need in 2026.”
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