WASHINGTON: Democrats appear more fired up than Republicans about voting in next year’s congressional elections following the party’s victories in recent state and local contests, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, which showed Republican President Donald Trump’s approval steady at 40 percent.
The six-day poll, which closed on Wednesday, showed 44 percent of registered voters who called themselves Democrats said they were “very enthusiastic” about voting in the November 3, 2026, elections, compared with 26 percent of Republicans who said the same. Some 79 percent of Democrats said they would regret it if they didn’t vote in the election, compared to 68 percent of Republicans.
All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives will be up for grabs next year, as will 35 seats in the 100-member US Senate. Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress.
Democrats have largely been in the doldrums since Trump won last year’s presidential election, but the party’s spirits were lifted in the November 4 elections when Democrats swept to victory in Virginia and New Jersey governors’ races, as well as in New York City’s mayoral contest.
Voters in Democratic-dominated California approved a measure to redraw congressional districts that will likely favor the party, with the state’s governor billing the measure as a way to counter Republican-led efforts to redraw districts in other states.
The midterm elections are still a year away, and both parties appear close to evenly matched on many fronts.
Asked who they would vote for in congressional elections if the election were held today, 41 percent of registered voters said they’d pick the Democratic candidate and 40 percent said the Republican candidate, well within the poll’s 3-percentage-point margin of error.
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