Democrats’ Midterm Strength Masks Fierce Divides and Frustration, Poll Shows

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“A New York Times/Siena poll reveals Democratic voters are unhappy with their party and divided on its future direction. The poll, conducted from May 11-15, 2026, surveyed 1,507 registered voters, including 784 potential Democratic supporters.

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Democratic voters are in a combative, anti-establishment mood, unhappy with their party and disagreeing about its best path forward, a New York Times/Siena poll found.

May 11-15

Here are the key things to know about this New York Times/Siena poll:

The survey was conducted among 1,507 registered voters nationwide from May 11 to 15, 2026. Of those, 784 respondents were identified as potential Democratic supporters if they identified as Democrats or as independents who leaned toward the Democratic Party. Respondents who did not lean toward a party were included if they said they had voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 or planned to vote for a Democrat in 2026.

This poll was conducted in English and Spanish, by telephone using live interviewers. Overall, 99 percent of respondents were contacted on their cellphone. You can see the full results and exact questions that were asked among all voters and potential Democratic supporters.

Voters are selected for the survey from a list of registered voters. The list contains information on the demographic characteristics of every registered voter, allowing us to make sure we reach the right number of voters of each party, race and region. For this poll, interviewers placed nearly 260,000 calls to more than 97,000 voters.

To further ensure that the results reflect the entire voting population, not just those willing to take a poll, we give more weight to respondents from demographic groups that are underrepresented among survey respondents, like people without a college degree. You can see more information about the characteristics of respondents and the weighted sample at the bottom of the results and methodology page, under “Composition of the Sample.”

The margin of sampling error among registered voters is about plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. In theory, this means that the results should reflect the views of the overall population most of the time, though many other challenges create additional sources of error.

You can see full results and a detailed methodology among all voters and potential Democratic supporters. If you want to read more about how and why we conduct our polls, you can see answers to frequently asked questions and submit your own questions here.“