The 2026 midterms may not deliver the kind of “blue wave” many Democrats are banking on—at least if a new survey is any clue.
A new Wall Street Journal poll released this weekend found that Americans think Congressional Republicans are “best able” to handle most of the big issues facing the country, beating Democrats across key topics like border security, immigration, and the economy.
On border security, the gap was massive: respondents favored Republicans by 28 points, 48% to 20%. The GOP also held an 11-point advantage on immigration overall.
Beyond those two headline issues, respondents still gave Republicans the edge on several other major areas, including:
- The economy (+6)
- Inflation (+6)
- Tariffs (+2)
- Foreign policy (+5)
- The Russia–Ukraine war (+4)
Democrats, however, led Republicans on a few issues—most notably vaccine policy (+9) and healthcare (+15).
Even so, the poll results weren’t a clean win for the GOP across the board. When asked about the generic congressional ballot, voters still gave Democrats a narrow advantage—47% to 43%—despite leaning toward Republicans on many of the individual issues.
The Wall Street Journal survey sampled 1,500 registered voters nationwide, interviewed between January 8–13.
The poll was featured in a Wall Street Journal report published Friday titled “It’s Trump’s Economy, and Voters are Unhappy With It.” The numbers suggest a political split: many voters may not love how President Donald Trump is handling the economy, but they still view his party as more capable of managing it overall.
According to the survey, Trump’s approval rating stood at 45%, down one point from the Journal’s previous poll, while his disapproval rating was 54%.
Separately, a CNN poll found Democratic lawmakers facing serious headwinds, with a 72% disapproval rating among Americans. That survey was conducted January 9–12 and included 1,209 respondents.
Trump has repeatedly expressed confidence that Republicans can outperform expectations in the 2026 midterms.
“We’re going to make history and break records with the epic midterm victory that we’re gonna pull off — that just doesn’t seem to happen for people who win the presidency. It’s an amazing phenomena,” Trump said. “And we sure as hell are having a successful presidency, I will say that.”
But days later, speaking with Sean Hannity on Fox News, he struck a more cautious note, acknowledging the historic pattern that often works against the party in power.
“The sitting president always loses the midterm, even if they’ve done well,” Trump said.
