Voters Are Unsatisfied With Trump and Republicans on Prices

The latest PBS/NPR/Marist poll finds that in the 2026 Congressional Ballot, Democrats hold a commanding 14-point lead. The margin exceeds every other survey, yet it highlights a broader trend. Democrats continue to lead Republicans, even without a unified party vision, as voters continue to be frustrated over persistent affordability problems.

The poll, taken November 10-13 with 1,291 registered voters, found that for the 2026 midterms, only 41% planned to vote for Republicans, while 55% planned to vote for Democrats. Most of this difference came from independents in the poll, 61% of whom supported Democrats, while only 28% supported Republicans.

This result is much more extreme than the rest of the polling landscape, where Democrats lead Republicans by 4.8 points in the RealClearPolitics Average. Every poll but one shows Democrats ahead, with the next-closest survey putting their lead at just 8 points.

According to the poll, Democrats' lead stems primarily from Republicans' failure to adequately address prices and affordability, with 57% wanting the Trump administration to make this its top priority. In a far-off second, 16% said controlling immigration should be the top priority; only 7% said ending the war in Ukraine and 6% said maintaining peace between Israel and Gaza should be the top priority.

The discontent is evident in Trump’s approval rating, which on November 20 hit a new second-term low of -12.7 net approval. According to another poll from The Economist, the worst issue for Trump is jobs and the economy, where only 38% approve and 56% disapprove. Respondents were also skeptical of foreign trade, with only 38% approving and 53% disapproving.

One of the major concerns in trade is the level of tariffs and their effects on the prices of goods. While 37% said the tariffs should be increased or kept the same, 47% thought they should be decreased. This is because 73% thought tariffs increased prices slightly or a lot, while only 17% thought they kept prices the same or decreased them.

Another source of discontent with Trump and Republicans is continued frustration in the aftermath of the government shutdown. Only 39% approved of Trump’s handling of the shutdown and the funding agreement, while 55% disapproved, according to the Quantus Insights poll. Twenty-five percent also said their opinion of Trump worsened after the shutdown ended, leading to the current term-low approval rating.

Even though Democrats are favored in 2026, voters still have very little confidence in the party, even compared to Republicans. The Marist poll also found that 29% of Americans have confidence in the Democratic Party, while 35% have confidence in the Republican Party.