New polls on gerrymandering, political parties, and Trump's weakening support
Today, we’re spotlighting the April 24 - 27, 2026 Economist/YouGov Poll.
Welcome to YouGov’s newsletter The Surveyor, with new polling data, insights, and charts on politics, life, and other topical issues — from our U.S. News team.
In this week’s Economist/YouGov poll:
The share of Americans who strongly approve of Donald Trump’s job handling hits a new low for his second term
Most Americans say partisan gerrymandering should not be allowed
While both political parties are unpopular, Democrats have a lead in the race for Congress
Plus polling on the Iran war, Congress, corruption, government spending, and trust in institutions.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump remains unpopular as his most committed group of supporters shrinks to a record-low level, according to the latest Economist / YouGov Poll. 37% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Donald Trump’s job handling and 59% disapprove — a net job approval of -22. The 59% who disapprove matches the highest level of Trump’s second term and his net approval of -22 is just above the previous low of -23.
Trump’s -22 net approval is considerably lower than his -16 net approval a week earlier, but the three-week average of Trump’s net job approval has not changed much in recent months despite week-to-week variation.
One reason for Trump’s low net approval in this week’s poll is record-low second-term net approval among both 30- to 44-year-olds and those 65 and older — or, roughly speaking, Millennials and Baby Boomers. Among 30- to 44-year-olds, 29% approve of Trump’s job performance and 65% disapprove, while among those 65 and older, 37% approve and 61% disapprove. Trump’s net approval of -37 with 30- to 44-year-olds is the lowest he’s received from this group in his second term, as is his net approval of -24 with those 65 and older.
51% of Americans say they strongly disapprove of how Trump is handling his job as president. This is the second time in either Trump term that strong disapproval of his job performance has exceeded 50% in an Economist / YouGov Poll, after the February 28 - March 2 poll.
Only 18% of Americans strongly approve of Trump’s job performance, a record low for his second term, and down from 34% at the start of his term.
Gerrymandering
This week’s Economist / YouGov poll finds that most Americans oppose partisan gerrymandering, but far smaller shares think the 2026 election will be conducted unfairly or that voting by mail poses a problem.
Most Americans (71%) say that states should not be allowed to draw congressional districts in a way that intentionally favors one party. Only 7% say that partisan gerrymandering should be allowed. Overwhelming majorities of Democrats (74%), Independents (70%), and Republicans (69%) say it should not be allowed.
Americans are more likely to say that their states’ congressional districts have been drawn unfairly than to say they’ve been drawn fairly (32% vs. 24%), though many (44%) are not sure about districts in their states. Republicans are a bit more likely than Democrats to say their states’ districts have been drawn fairly (32% vs. 25%); similar shares of both parties say they have been drawn unfairly (34%). Independents are about twice as likely to say their states’ districts have been drawn unfairly than fairly (30% vs. 16%).
Americans in states that are represented in the U.S. House by a majority Democratic delegation are slightly more likely to say their states’ districts were drawn fairly than those whose states are represented by a majority Republican delegation (26% vs. 21%). Americans in states whose delegations are evenly split between Democrats and Republicans are even more likely to say their states’ districts were drawn fairly (33%).
Of the Americans who say that districts in their state are drawn unfairly, roughly equal shares say they are drawn to favor Democrats and that they are drawn to favor Republicans. Democrats and Republicans are about three times more likely to say that their states’ districts give an unfair advantage to the other party than to say they give an advantage to their own party. Independents are more likely to say their states’ districts favor Republicans than to say they favor Democrats.
While most Americans oppose partisan gerrymandering, fewer are worried that upcoming elections will not be run fairly. More Americans think the 2026 midterm elections will be conducted fairly and that the votes will be counted accurately than think they will not (38% vs. 27%). Democrats (49%) are more likely than Independents (30%) and Republicans (37%) to say that the midterms will be conducted fairly.
Americans in states that are represented by majority Democratic U.S. House delegations are slightly more likely to think the midterms will be conducted fairly than those in states represented by majority Republican delegations (40% vs. 36%). And while independent redistricting commissions seem to increase confidence in the fairness of states’ districts, they don’t seem to increase confidence in other parts of the electoral process. Americans in states that use redistricting committees and those in states where districts are decided by the state legislature are about equally likely to say that the 2026 midterms will be conducted fairly (38% vs. 37%).
Some political leaders have proposed increasing restrictions on mail voting, but most Americans do not agree with these proposals. A majority (58%) of Americans say that voting by mail should either be made easier (27%) or kept the same (31%). Only one-third (33%) say mail voting should either be made harder (15%) or not allowed (18%). Republicans (59%) are much more likely than Independents (30%) and Democrats (8%) to say that mail voting should be made harder or eliminated.
Most of the Americans who want to reduce mail voting usually vote in person on Election Day. Nearly half (47%) of Election Day voters say mail voting should be harder (18%) or eliminated (29%). In contrast, only about one-third (32%) of Americans who usually vote in person before Election Day and just 15% of those who usually vote by mail say access to mail voting should be reduced or cut entirely.
Equal shares of Americans usually vote in person on Election Day and usually vote through other methods (41% vs. 41%). The latter group is made up of the 19% of Americans who usually vote early in person and the 22% who usually vote by mail. Republicans (59%) are much more likely than Independents (29%) and Democrats (36%) to usually vote in person on Election Day. Democrats (33%) are more likely to usually vote by mail than Independents (22%) and Republicans (13%). Roughly equal shares of the three groups usually vote early in person.
Older Americans are much more likely than younger adults to vote early or by mail. A majority (59%) of Americans 65 and older usually vote early in person (24%) or by mail (34%). Only 35% usually vote in person on Election Day. Adults under 65 are more likely to vote in person on Election Day than to vote early or by mail. That means that older Americans would disproportionately feel the effects of any changes to mail voting.
Political parties
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are unpopular, according to the latest Economist / YouGov poll, with far more Americans having unfavorable views of each party than have favorable views. 31% of Americans have a very or somewhat favorable view of Republicans in Congress, while 59% have an unfavorable view — a net favorability of -28. 34% have a favorable view of Democrats in Congress and 55% have an unfavorable view, a net favorability of -21.
Each congressional party has had negative net favorability almost every single time the weekly Economist / YouGov poll has asked about it over the past five years. For most of that time, the party of the sitting president has been more popular than the opposition party. Last month saw an exception to this trend, with congressional Democrats less unpopular than congressional Republicans. That finding was driven by increased favorability for congressional Democrats among very liberal Americans. This week’s poll also finds that congressional Democrats are less unpopular than congressional Republicans.
The poll asked respondents to classify themselves and each party by ideology: very liberal, liberal, moderate, conservative, or very conservative. Most Americans say they would describe the Democratic Party as either liberal (27%) or very liberal (36%), and two-thirds would describe the Republican Party as either conservative (28%) or very conservative (39%). But views of the two parties differ between liberal and conservative Americans.
In general, conservatives are much more likely than liberals to say the Democratic Party is very liberal, and liberals are more likely than conservatives to say the Republican Party is very conservative.
For example, the Democratic Party is described as very liberal by 87% of very conservative Americans, and 70% of those who say they’re conservative but not very conservative — but only 12% of very liberal Americans and 10% of liberal but not very liberal Americans. 14% of very liberal Americans say the Democratic Party is conservative or very conservative.
Likewise, 85% of very liberal Americans say the Republican Party is very conservative, as do 65% of liberals but only 15% of those who are conservative but not very conservative. Americans who say they’re very conservative are an exception to the trend: 38% of them say the Republican Party is also very conservative, similar to the shares of moderates and Americans overall who say this.
Americans are more likely to trust the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party to handle health care (47% say they trust the Democratic Party more and 26% say the Republican Party), the economy (40% vs. 34%), and taxes (37% vs. 33%). They’re more likely to trust the Republican Party more than the Democratic Party on national defense (39% say the Republican Party and 34% say the Democratic Party) and crime (39% vs. 31%). Americans are evenly divided about which party they trust more to handle immigration (38% say the Democratic Party and 39% say the Republican Party).
When the Economist and YouGov asked a similar question in November 2025, Republicans had a 16-point advantage on which party is better at handling immigration. That Republican advantage fell to 6 points by the start of February 2026 — weeks after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration agents in Minneapolis — and is now just 1 point.
Americans as a whole favor Republicans by 8 points to handle crime, and Democrats by 21 points to handle health care. That gap reflects differences among moderates — who favor Democrats by 7 points on crime but by 43 points on health care — but also differences in intensity among liberals and conservatives. While the vast majority (87%) of conservatives trust the Republican Party more on handling crime, only 66% of conservatives give the edge to the GOP on health care. Likewise, 90% of liberals favor the Democratic Party on handling health care, but only 70% give the edge to Democrats on crime.
Few Democrats outright favor the Republican Party on handling crime, and few Republicans favor the Democratic Party on health care. Instead, liberals who don’t trust Democrats more on particular issues are more likely to say they’re not sure or that they trust both parties about the same. The same holds true for conservatives who don’t trust the Republican Party on certain issues.
This week’s poll finds 46% of registered voters would vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress if the election were held today, and 41% would vote for the Republican candidate. Democrats have consistently led on this question since the Economist and YouGov began asking this question a year ago.
Quick takes
30% of Americans strongly or somewhat support the war with Iran, and 59% oppose it
40% of Americans say more than half of the members of Congress are corrupt, while 36% say between one-fifth and half are, 21% say between one in 20 and one-fifth are, and only 3% say fewer than that are
Americans are more likely to say members of Congress should resign immediately than say they should get a chance to defend themselves if accused of sexual misconduct (57% vs. 35%) or financial misconduct (52% vs. 39%), but not if they’re accused of breaking a campaign promise (22% vs. 66%)
85% of Americans say there should be a required retirement age for members of Congress. The most common choice for that age is 65, preferred by 29% of Americans; 65 is the lowest age offered as an option on the question
Most Americans say the U.S. should increase spending slightly or a lot on veterans (72%), Social Security (70%), Medicare (67%) and education (64%); the only two spending areas out of 12 asked about where Americans are more likely to want less spending are ICE (30% would increase spending and 43% would decrease spending) and foreign aid (22% vs. 47%)
45% of Americans say they have very little confidence in big business, about as many as say so about television news (44%) and more than do about newspapers (38%), organized religion (36%), or small business (9%)
Final chart
This newsletter was written by David Montgomery, Alexander Rossell Hayes, and Carl Bialik
See a version of this report on the YouGov website, plus the toplines and crosstabs for the April 17 - 20, 2026 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,836 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, geographic region, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%.
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