Voters Prefer Democrats, But Still Don’t Trust Them

Voters
A new poll conducted by center-left think tank Third Way and the public-opinion firm GBAO, and shared exclusively with Marianna, found that voters prefer a Democratic Congress over Republican control by a margin of 48 percent to 40 percent. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Marianna Sotomayor
May 12, 2026

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If the midterm election hinged solely on the country’s mood, and not the redistricting arms race, Democrats would appear poised to reclaim the House on a wave of anti-Trump emotion. A new poll conducted by center-left think tank Third Way and the public-opinion firm GBAO, and shared exclusively with me, found that voters prefer a Democratic Congress over Republican control by a margin of 48 percent to 40 percent. The biggest movement came from Latinos, who have shifted eight points toward Dems since the fall, and young men, who moved 10 points in that direction. (Third Way, an occasional punching bag for leftists, has become more influential with Democratic leadership following the party’s 2024 shellacking.)