A majority of voters in swing districts say they want Congress to extend the Obamacare tax credits and would be disinclined to vote for a lawmaker who lets the subsidies expire.
That's according to a new McLaughlin & Associates poll published Wednesday.
The wedge issue is critical to Republicans holding on to their majority in the House in the 2026 midterms, according to the president of the conservative group Americans for a Balanced Budget, which commissioned the poll.
"This poll makes it clear: preserving the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits isn't just good policy, it's smart politics for Republicans looking to defend their majority in the 2026 midterms," Dee Stewart, president of Americans for a Balanced Budget, said in a statement.
The report by Trump pollster John McLaughlin found that 51% of voters say they are more likely to vote for "a Democratic candidate who fought to preserve and protect the Enhanced Premium Healthcare Tax Credits" rather than "a Republican candidate who refused to protect" the subsidies and "wanted them to expire."
Put another way, 56% of voters said they would be more likely to vote for a congressional candidate who voted to preserve the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, including 55% of independents, according to the survey.
Overall, 72% of voters said they support the tax credits, including 57% of Republicans, according to the survey.
"Across party lines, voters agree — extending the tax credits is the common-sense choice to keep healthcare costs down and protect middle-class families from higher taxes," said McLaughlin, CEO of McLaughlin & Associates.
"With an overwhelming majority of voters supporting the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, this is a unifying issue that cuts across partisan lines and resonates heading into the next election."
Democrats have made the enhanced Obamacare subsidies a central sticking point in the ongoing government shutdown — even though the benefits don't expire until Dec. 31.
They're demanding guarantees from Republicans to extend the subsidies before agreeing to a short-term funding bill to reopen the government.
Republican leaders counter that any discussion about the costly Obamacare program should be handled separately from the shutdown negotiations.
Many conservatives insist the subsidies, which they argue fuel runaway spending and inflate healthcare costs, should not be extended in their current form.
The poll found that 53% of those surveyed said Democrats should "compromise" with Republicans to reopen the government, with a 39% plurality blaming Democrats for the shutdown in the first place, McLaughlin found.
McLaughlin surveyed 1,000 likely voters in eight Republican toss-up districts from Oct. 15-19. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 points with a 95% confidence level.
The swing districts surveyed include two in Arizona (1st and 6th Congressional Districts), two in Pennsylvania (7th and 10th), Colorado's 8th, Michigan's 7th and Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.