Poll: Voters demand change and a check on Trump, fueling a steep Democratic midterm advantage

Democrats have a sizable advantage in the battle for control of Congress days ahead of the midterm elections, a new national NBC News poll finds, with voters clamoring for change and voicing all-time high disapproval of President Donald Trump.Registered voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress by a 7-point margin, with Democrats leading Republicans 52%-45% — 2 points more than in last month’s poll.That includes a 21-point lead among independents.Three percent of voters remained undecided as the poll was conducted from Oct.

28 to Oct.30, and how they shift in the final days could tilt the outcome in dead-heat House and Senate races around the country.

While the overall poll suggests that Democrats are poised to capitalize on a well of dissatisfaction with the president and his policies, there are findings that complicate the favorable picture.When it comes to which party better handles key issues, voters give Republicans and Democrats about even marks, and the Democratic Party remains deeply unpopular.Meanwhile, Republican voters in GOP-held districts and in states Trump won in 2024 are sticking with their party — notable because much of the battle for control of both the House and Senate runs through this red terrain.

But there are also numerous signs of trouble for the GOP, with Trump at the center of a difficult political environment for Republicans and their slim majorities in both houses of Congress.The president’s disapproval rating has climbed to 60%, a new high mark across his two terms in the NBC News poll, and his approval rating stands at 40%.After Trump won a second term in 2024 promising to bring down prices and restore the economic conditions of his first term, roughly 3 in 4 voters head into the midterms dissatisfied with the state of the economy.

Nearly two-thirds of voters are calling for a change from the direction in which Trump has been leading the country, with 50% calling for “a great deal” of change, a new high mark in NBC...