Democrats lead Republicans on favorability, economy: Gallup

A new poll found that Democrats lead Republicans on favorability and on the economy as candidates make their final pitches in the weeks leading up to the November midterm elections.

The new Gallup poll released Tuesday showed 43 percent of respondents favoring the Democratic Party more than the GOP, which saw support from 35 percent. This marked a 6-point increase for Democrats and a 5-point drop for Republicans since last year .

Gallup has noted that the Democratic Party has typically been viewed more favorably since 1992, averaging 49 percent compared with the Republican Party’s 44 percent average. Both parties hit a majority at least once since 2010, with Democrats seeing 51 percent favorability in 2012 and 51 percent favorability for Republicans in 2020.

Polling showed that Democrats were last viewed more favorably by respondents in September 2021, also at 43 percent, compared to that same poll’s 40 percent for Republicans.

The Democratic Party also won marks on handling the economy, with 50 percent of independents saying Democrats would better handle the economy, and 32 percent say they prefer GOP to handle the economy.

Independents overall view Democrats favorably over Republicans, 40-27, adding that Democrats are better able to handle the country’s most important problems at 39 percent, while 26 percent of respondents said the same of Republicans.

Partisan support for either party on handling the country’s most important problems remains high, with 86 percent of Republicans and 90 percent of Democrats saying their party is better on the issue.

Just over half of respondents prefer Democrats to be able to keep the country prosperous, compared to 37 percent who say the GOP is better capable of keeping the U.S. prosperous.

“The Democratic Party has improved its standing relative to the Republican Party on several measures of public opinion, reversing advantages the GOP held on key issues during much of the Biden administration,” pollsters said. “The shift extends beyond overall party favorability to perceptions of which party is better able to address the nation’s problems, maintain prosperity and protect the country from foreign threats.”

Gallup added that “neither party enjoys a broadly positive public image. Despite the Democratic Party’s current advantages, a majority of Americans view it unfavorably.”

Democrats have seen growing favorability in recent months, with consistent polling showing the party having an advantage going into the midterms. Republicans have campaigned on the successes of the Trump administration, though a rising tide of candidates and incumbents have called for an end to the Iran war to lower energy prices, both of which being a growing concern among voters.

An exclusive NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) poll, conducted by AI research platform TrueDot.ai, released Tuesday showed Democrats leading Republicans with 49 percent support to the GOP’s 42 percent on the generic congressional ballot.

The Gallup survey was conducted Sept. 1-17 and included 1,000 respondents. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.