Midterms may not be big blue wave after all, new poll shows

The 2026 midterms may not be shaping up to be a wipeout for the Democratic Party, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 46% of Americans aged 50 and older — who tend to participate more in non-presidential elections than younger voters — said they were planning to vote for the Republican candidate in their congressional district in the midterms. Meanwhile, just 38% of U.S. voters aged 50 and up said they intend to vote for a Democratic congressional candidate, according to the survey.

The newly released survey “shows there is still a lot of work ahead for Democrats to unify their base and to demonstrate they can meet the moment,” Joel Payne, a longtime Democratic strategist, told Reuters.

In December 2021, older U.S. voters favored Republicans by 43%, compared with 42% who viewed Democrats more favorably, Reuters reported. Comparatively, Democrats notched a lead among older Americans during the same month ahead of the 2018 election, 40% to 38%, according to Reuters.

Moreover, 42% of voters thought Republicans had better economic policy, while 34% said the same about Democrats, according to Reuters’ polling.

The poll also found that Democrats only had a one-point advantage over Republicans when respondents were asked which party had better policy on the cost of living — an issue the party has been heavily campaigning on as of late.

However, of those surveyed, 44% said they thought Democrats had better healthcare policy, compared to 30% who said they favored Republicans on that issue.

Most Americans still trust Republicans and President Donald Trump’s approach to handling the economy over Democrats, according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released on Monday. However, other recently released polls have shown that many voters are dissatisfied with Trump’s economic policies.

Vice President JD Vance is anticipated to visit Pennsylvania next week in an effort to highlight the Trump administration’s message on affordability, two anonymous sources told the Daily Caller on Wednesday. Trump notably dismissed the word “affordability” as a “Democrat scam” on Dec. 2.

In November, Democrats secured several key electoral wins in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia. Additionally, Democrat Eileen Higgins, a former Miami-Dade County commissioner, won Miami’s mayorship on Tuesday, marking a victory for the Democratic Party.

The Reuters/Ipsos polled 3,521 registered voters from Dec. 3 to 8. The poll’s margin of error was 2 percentage points among all registered voters, including those age 50 and up.

Among younger U.S. voters, the poll’s margin of error was 3 percentage points.

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