AP Voter Poll: Republicans punished over Trump economic policies
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
About two-thirds of voters in a 100,000-person AP poll said Trump's policies worsened the US economy.
Democrats won the Senate and key state races as cost of living drove votes.
Background
The AP Voter Poll is a survey of more than 100,000 voters conducted by SSRS for AP, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, FOX News Media, NBC News and Versant around the 2026 midterms, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 0.6 percentage points for the full sample. It was released as voters handed Democrats control of the Senate and flipped Republican-held seats in several states, including ones where President Donald Trump had personally chosen or campaigned for GOP nominees. Prices had climbed with Trump's tariffs and energy costs spiked after he launched a war with Iran in February, making the economy central to the midterm verdict.
How it unfolded
- Nov 3, 2026Voters gave Democrats control of the Senate and flipped Republican-held seats in North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, Texas, South Carolina and Kansas. Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated Republican Mike Collins in Georgia, and Democrat Gina Hinojosa unseated Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whom Trump had endorsed.
- Nov 3, 2026The AP Voter Poll found about two-thirds of voters nationally said Trump's policies worsened economic conditions, while only about 3 in 10 said they improved them. About two-thirds also said his tariff policies hurt the national or local economy.
- Nov 3, 2026About 9 in 10 voters called the cost of living a crucial or major factor in their congressional vote, and about 6 in 10 of that group backed Democratic House candidates. Consumer prices were up 3.7% over 12 months, versus 3% when Trump began his second term.
- Nov 3, 2026Trump posted that Abbott was to blame for his loss, calling him a RINO, a Republican in name only, and posted a picture of a red cap with VETO stitched on it.
- Nov 4, 2026Trump told reporters the Iran war drove gasoline up a little bit short-term but said if he had to do it again, he would. Stocks rose as investors greeted the Democratic wins as a positive.
- Nov 5, 2026AP reported Trump was publicly humbled by inflation, with rising prices provoking losses for Republicans in House, Senate and gubernatorial races.
Key terms
- midterms
- US general elections held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term, when all House seats and about a third of Senate seats are contested.
- tariffs
- A tax imposed by a government on imported goods, paid by the importer.
- RINO
- A pejorative for a Republican politician seen as insufficiently loyal to or aligned with the party's ideology.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Trump said Democrats did a good job and blamed Republican candidates for the midterm losses, while defending his tariff and Iran war policies.
- Analysts
- AP framed the results as a verdict on Trump's economy, with inflation and tariffs driving a voter revolt against Republicans.
- Party
- Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said everyone is thinking about Trump and the harm he has done to them directly.
- Public
- Santiago Meyer of Voters of Tomorrow said young people felt betrayed by Trump's economic policies.