Nearly three-quarters of Democratic voters say they are “extremely motivated” to cast their ballots in the 2026 midterm elections, a dramatic uptick from four years ago, polling shows.
Just six months after Republicans took control of the White House and Congress, 72 percent of Democrats and Democratic-aligned voters say they are “extremely motivated” to vote in the next election, a CNN poll conducted by SSRS this month found. By contrast, only 50 percent of Republicans say the same.
Democrats are now looking to enter midterm elections in 2026 under similar circumstances as 2018 in an attempt to break up the GOP’s control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.
During the 2018 elections, voters dealt a massive blow to President Donald Trump’s first-term agenda, with House Democrats gaining 23 seats to take control of the House.
In October 2022, two years into President Joe Biden’s term when Democrats narrowly controlled the trifecta, just 44 percent of Democratic voters expressed the same motivation to vote in the midterm. That figure was just slightly higher for Republicans, with 48 percent saying they were eager to vote.
In that election, Republicans clinched the House of Representatives while Democrats retained control of the Senate.
Still, the poll shows Democrats could have some work cut out for them.
Just 28 percent of respondents said they view the Democratic Party favorably. Meanwhile, 33 percent expressed a favorable view of the Republican Party.
“I think that the Democratic Party, we have a lot of work to do to make sure we are meeting voters where they are, listening to what they have to say, and talking to them about issues that they want us to take action on,” Virginia Democratic Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan told CNN in response to the poll. “What’s going to matter is what we’re doing on the ground in these districts.”
Recovering from Kamala Harris’ defeat to Trump in 2024, Democrats are looking to harness an electorate that they lost in the last election.
A separate poll by Lake Research Partners and Way to Win analyzed “Biden skippers,” those living in battleground states who voted for Biden in 2020 but sat out of the 2024 presidential election.
The survey poked holes in the idea that Harris was “too far left.” Progressive lawmaker Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez topped the list of public figures respondents viewed positively, with 78 percent having a favorable view of Sanders and 67 percent having a favorable view of Ocasio-Cortez.
Republicans are also making moves ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The White House is already strategizing to ensure the GOP retains the trifecta. The plan reportedly includes Trump returning to the campaign trail as well as him having a hand in advising which candidates run and which “stay put” in the upcoming election, sources told Politico.
