Democratic registered voters are more motivated to vote in the 2026 midterm elections than Republicans despite major dissatisfaction with current leaders, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
A full 72% of those surveyed said they disapprove of the way Democratic leaders in Congress are handling their jobs, while 28% approve.
Meanwhile, 80% of Democrats said they are “extremely motivated” or “very motivated” to vote in the upcoming elections, compared with 74% of Republicans who say the same.
The poll, conducted Jan. 9-12 among 1,209 adults, revealed shifts in political thinking:
— 64% said they disapprove of the way Republican leaders are handling their jobs compared with 35% who approve.
— 46% said they would vote for the Democratic Party’s candidate if elections were being held today while 41% said the Republican Party’s candidate.
— 52% think Republicans in Congress are doing too much to support President Donald Trump while 36% think Democrats are doing too much to oppose the president.
— 39% said the country will be better off if Democrats win control of Congress while 37% say worse off.
— 50% said Trump has had a bad effect on the Republican Party while 32% say he has had a good effect.
The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points and 3.5 points among registered voters.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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