Economic worries dominate as Marquette poll shows Democrats leading likely voters

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MILWAUKEE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Inflation and cost of living are top concerns among registered voters as the latest Marquette Law School poll shows 54% of likely voters plan to back Democrats in the midterms.

The new Marquette Law School Poll national survey found 54% of likely voters saying they will vote for a Democrat in congressional elections in November, while 41% say they will vote for a Republican.

In July, the Democratic advantage was 51% to 45%.

• Click here to see the full results of the poll

Polled voters saw Republicans better on national defense, crime, and immigration/border security and saw Democrats better than Republicans on economy, inflation, Medicare/Social Security, and health care.

President Donald Trump’s approval rating also declined with polled voters from July to September. In the latest poll, 37% approved of how President Trump is handling his job, with 63% who disapprove. That is down from 40% approval in July, and a percentage point below the previous low of 38% approval in May and June.

Approval of Trump varies substantially across issues, with his highest approval rating, 49%, for his handling of border security, and 43% approval on the issue of immigration. Each of the other six issues measured has approval ratings below 35%, with overall approval at 37%. Approval is especially low for the economy, war with Iran, gas prices, and inflation and the cost of living, each of which has approval below 30%. While approval on border security and on immigration each has remained relatively stable, approval on other issues has seen significant decline over time. Approval of the war with Iran has declined from 32% in April to 26% now.

The majority of those polled also oppose data centers and think AI will be bad for society. They also oppose Flock cameras.

The survey was conducted Sept. 2-9, 2026, interviewing 1,023 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.3 percentage points. For registered voters, the sample size is 864, with a margin of error of +/-3.6. For likely voters, the sample size is 581, with a margin of error of +/-4.3 percentage points.