A recent national poll from Quinnipiac University suggests Republicans are facing a challenging political climate heading into the 2026 midterms. Among registered voters, 49% want Democrats to govern the U.S. House, while 38% want Republicans in charge, an 11-point Democratic lead. July saw a seven point spread – 48% to 41% as Democrats are seen as more in touch with the concerns of average Americans than Republicans (46% vs. 35%), even as both are given poor marks for their job performance in Congress.
Overall, 33% approve of the job President Donald Trump is doing, while 59% disapprove. He ranks notably low on several critical issues: 32% approve of his management of the economy, 29% Iran, 28% the Russia-Ukraine war and 28% trade with Canada. Immigration is his top-rated topic in the survey, at 39% approval. Quinnipiac said Trump’s ratings on the economy, commander-in-chief job and Russia-Ukraine war are the lowest it has ever recorded for him on those matters.
The poll also shows strong opposition to the MAGA branding. 65% of voters say they are not MAGA fans, while 32% say they are. According to the poll, 51% say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who identifies with MAGA, compared with 18% who say the label would make them more likely to support the candidate. Another 29% say a candidate’s MAGA affiliation would make no difference in their vote.
The Democratic Socialist moniker is likewise a net negative: 43% say it would make them less likely to support a politician, compared to 17% more likely.
On foreign issues, 56 percent say Trump is too severe on Canada. On Iran, 39% want to keep U.S. forces there and negotiate a peace deal, 30% want to pull them out without a deal and 22% want to ramp up military operations. Meanwhile, 38% say they sympathize more with Palestinians and 35% with Israelis, which Quinnipiac says is its highest level of sympathy for Palestinians and lowest for Israelis since it started asking registered voters the subject in 2001.
Half of voters also say the U.S. is too supportive of Russia, while 41% say it is not supportive enough of Ukraine.
The survey of 970 registered voters countrywide was conducted September 3-6, 2026, and has a margin of error of ±3.9 percentage points.
