New poll: Democrats lead the 2026 House generic ballot, and their edge widens when voters are reminded Republicans control Congress

This article reports results from the November Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll. You can read our previous poll releases here. Subscribers to Strength In Numbers can suggest questions for future polls here or leave them in the comments section below.

Headline poll findings:

Our new November Strength in Numbers/Verasight poll finds Democrats leading the 2026 U.S. House generic ballot, 47% to 42% for Republicans. In a survey experiment, when respondents are told Republicans currently control the House and Senate, preference for Democrats rises to 48% vs 41% for Republicans — an expanded margin of D+7.

In our first poll conducted after the 2025 elections, and while the U.S. Congress was in the process of ending the government shutdown, President Donald Trump received a job approval rating of 41% approve to 57% disapprove (–16). The president is deeply negative on prices/inflation (–33) and health care (–26). A broad majority of 65% of voters said they do not think Trump has kept his promises on the economy, while 24% say he has.

Additionally, 58% of adults say they want government food assistance via SNAP to be fully funded during government shutdowns. Blame for the shutdown is split: 36% say Trump deserves the most blame, 35% say Democrats do, and 19% say Republicans in Congress bear the most blame. When we split our sample based on when respondents completed interviews, Trump’s job approval ticked up slightly after the shutdown deal was reached.

On the topic of health care, 59% of adults oppose the expiration of ACA marketplace subsidies this year. To continue to fund such programs, a broad majority of 63% of the public supports raising taxes on corporations and households making $400,000 per year.

Finally, voters are deeply dissatisfied with their choices of political leaders and parties. Majorities of American adults say each political party is out of touch with the needs of the average person. Fifty-four and 55 percent of voters say the Democrats and Republicans, respectively, are not in touch. Additionally, 61% of adults say they don’t feel represented by the two major parties. But what can the crosstabs tell us about why the Democratic and Republican brands are in such trouble?

Methodology note: Verasight conducted this poll among 2,038 U.S. adult residents from November 12-14, 2025. It has a margin of sampling error of 2.3%. The survey was weighted to match the political and demographic characteristics of the U.S. ...