An Emerson College poll gives Democrats an 11-point lead over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, 53% to 42%, about 40 days before the Nov. 3 midterms. Trump’s approval is 39%, while nearly 58% disapprove.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted earlier this week and released Sept. 24; its margin of error is 3 percentage points. Fifty-six percent said Trump had done worse than expected in his second term, versus 26% who said better and nearly 18% who said about as expected. On economic policy, 63% said his policies were making the economy worse, up from 49% in April 2025; 28% said better, compared with 29% then.
The economy was the top concern for 41% of respondents, followed by threats to democracy at 17%, immigration at 13% and healthcare at 12%. The Democratic candidate led 60% to 31% among independent voters and 64% to 31% among Hispanic voters. Emerson Polling executive director Spencer Kimball said the generic ballot does not capture individual-race nuances but can indicate the scale of a potential Democratic wave.
