A national survey found Democratic congressional candidates leading among registered voters and President Donald Trump at 34% approval, offering a snapshot of voter opinion before the Nov. 3 U.S. midterms.
In the NBC News Decision Desk poll, 55% of registered voters selected a Democratic candidate for their district, while 45% chose a Republican. The nationwide result measures preference; it does not estimate how many seats either party will win.
Among all adults, 34% approved of Trump’s job performance and 66% disapproved, including 51% who strongly disapproved. The figures among registered voters were 39% approval and 61% disapproval.
The poll also recorded broad pessimism about the country’s course: 71% said it was on the wrong track. That was the largest share in NBC’s polling since Trump began his second term. The comparable figure was 67% in the March 30-April 13 survey, but NBC’s margin of error for comparisons between waves is doubled, so the four-point difference does not establish a change.
Household assessments were also negative. Forty-four percent said their finances were worse than a year earlier, while 38% said they were about the same and 18% said they were better. A combined 67% called gas prices a very or somewhat serious problem for their family. Trump’s approval rating for handling inflation and the cost of living was 27%. These responses do not establish what caused any individual’s political views.
A separate Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found 35% of adults approved of Trump’s performance and 64% disapproved. Among registered voters, 47% favored Democratic control of the House, 38% favored Republican control and 15% were undecided. That survey asked about control of the chamber; NBC asked respondents to choose a candidate in their district.
NBC News Decision Desk and SurveyMonkey collected online responses from 19,135 U.S. adults between Sept. 28 and Oct. 12. The estimated margin of error for the full adult sample was 2.6 percentage points. Voters are scheduled to cast ballots in the midterms on Nov. 3.
