Voters Fear Unchecked Power as Polls Miss Behavior

Forty-four percent of voters said they feared Donald Trump would be allowed to operate beyond his constitutional power if Republicans retained control of Congress, according to a CNBC survey. But the figures surrounding the midterms offer no clean route from what voters say to what they’ll do—or from a change in congressional control to lower prices.

What Voters Fear

The CNBC All-America Economic Survey, conducted by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies from October 14 to 18, included 1,000 registered voters. Twenty-eight percent worried about implementing policies associated with the Democratic Socialists of America, including 54% of Republicans and 22% of independents. The survey allowed respondents to select up to two concerns about either party controlling Congress, so those answers didn’t necessarily identify their top electoral priorities.

Prices remain a concern whichever party holds the gavels. If Democrats gained control of Congress, 22% of all voters worried the party would fail to bring down prices: 31% of Democrats, 22% of independents and 15% of Republicans. If Republicans retained control of the House and Senate, 24% worried about whether prices would fall, including 32% of Republicans, 22% of independents and 17% of Democrats.

In a separate question about the country’s most important issues, affordability ranked highly across the political spectrum. Democrats and independents also cited government corruption as a top priority, while Republicans cited immigration and border security. The economy was the top issue for voters: 84% of registered voters told Pew it was very important to their vote.

Alex Jacquez, senior vice president of policy, advocacy, and research at Groundwork Collaborative, said political advertising shaped concerns in the final days before the midterm election. Democrats attacked Trump over alleged corruption, he said, while Republicans portrayed Democrats as overly progressive. “But the overall vibe of the election is still first and foremost about the economy, people tend to blame the president for prices and Congress for enabling him,” Jacquez said.

What Polls Can’t Promise

CNN’s average of recent generic-ballot polls had Democrats ahead 52% to 42%. Kari Butcher, Burson’s Americas Chair, Insights, Data, and Intelligence, said that measure captures a preference, not what customers will do next. In a Fortune commentary published October 25, 2026, she warned business leaders against treating polls as reliable forecasts of purchases, customer loyalty, employee actions or investor reactions.

A poll about a week before Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary showed Abdul El-Sayed leading by 15 points, 54% to 39% among likely primary voters. He won by less than a point. Butcher said one possible factor was the assumption about who would vote. In early October, YouGov’s chief scientist found that the same survey could show a Democratic lead on the national House ballot ranging from 6 to 16 points, depending on how likely voters were identified. He called the high end almost certainly an overstatement; defensible choices gave a lead of 8 to 14 points. The answers stayed the same. The assumptions about behavior changed.

Consumer numbers carry a similar warning. The Conference Board’s confidence index fell 6.7 points in September to 81.9, its lowest level since 2014. The next day, the government reported that spending rose 0.9% in August while personal income increased 0.2%. Households made up the difference by saving less; the saving rate fell to 4.1%. Butcher said people can feel pessimistic while continuing to spend.

The Limits of the Company’s Lens

Butcher disclosed that evidence she cited about companies came from Burson’s own research. In a Burson Pulse survey of 1,601 U.S. adults fielded in late April, 61% said economic anxiety was making them save more and pay closer attention to what companies say and do. She noted that the survey and national savings figures came from different months and weren’t a direct test.

In the first wave of that study, 48% said they lost confidence in a company gradually, without being able to point to a single moment; another 52% said one event caused the loss. Butcher said confidence can erode before it appears in a headline or metric, meaning an overall score may not register a decline until damage is done.

Her advice to company leaders was not to discard polls or expect one source to answer every question. She urged them to compare what people say with what they search for, share, buy and do, and to keep asking people directly. The immediate audience for that advice is business leadership: Butcher said leaders should ask what decision a poll provides enough evidence to make, and seek missing evidence before acting when the answer is unclear.