A Fox News poll released Wednesday found that voters want major change amid economic and political discontent, with President Donald Trump’s job approval near a record low and Democrats holding a lead on the generic House ballot. The numbers are blunt. People are angry, squeezed, and done pretending the system is working for them.
Who’s Paying for the System
The survey said 53% of voters would back the Democratic candidate in their House district and 46% the Republican, a 7-point edge that was just outside the poll’s margin of error. Democrats were up by 5 points in April, and 53% was the highest percentage either party had received on the generic House ballot in Fox News polling since 1996. That’s not a love letter to the Democrats. It’s a measure of how badly the whole political machine has worn people down.
The poll found that more Democrats are motivated to vote than Republicans, with 68% of Democrats saying they are extremely motivated to vote in November compared with 57% of Republicans. By a 25-point spread, more MAGA Republicans, 66%, are extremely motivated than non-MAGA Republicans, 41%. The parties keep asking for loyalty. Voters are answering with exhaustion, factionalism, and distrust.
Trump’s job approval stood at 39%, unchanged for the third month in a row and one point above his low of 38% in October 2017. Approval of Trump was a touch lower than former President Barack Obama’s at the same point in his second term, 42% in July 2014. Trump received net-negative ratings for handling immigration, 42% approve and 57% disapprove; Iran, 34%-66%; the economy, 33%-67%; and inflation, 27%-73%. The office still concentrates power. The public still gets the bill.
What People Are Living Through
Three-quarters of voters rated the economy negatively, about the same for the past six months. Another three-quarters said inflation has caused them financial hardship, including 34% who said “serious” hardship, up from 26% last year. Fifty-four percent expected the economy to worsen in the coming year; only Republicans expressed optimism, at 71%, while Democrats, 75%, and independents, 64%, expected it to worsen. That’s the daily reality under corporate capture and state management: bills, rent, prices, and the steady grind of insecurity.
The poll also found broad dissatisfaction with both parties and the political system. Some 70% said the Republican Party is closely tied to elite interests, while 55% said the same about the Democratic Party. Many Democrats, 48%, and Republicans, 41%, said they feel betrayed by their party, mainly for selling out to special interests. By 2-to-1, voters said it is more important to elect new people than keep those with experience. The ritual of replacement keeps going, but the structure stays standing.
What They Want Instead
Overall, 19% said they want revolutionary change in the nation’s government, while 38% want substantial change and 23% want dramatic change. Nearly 7 in 10 voters disapproved of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and 85% supported a mandatory retirement age for members of Congress. The appetite for upheaval is there. The institutions just keep offering managed decline.
The survey also found that 50% of voters had a positive view of capitalism, down from 57% in 2019, while 30% viewed socialism favorably, up from 27% last year. The Democratic Socialists of America were viewed positively by 31%. Forty-five percent had a favorable view of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., more than Vice President JD Vance at 41%, Trump at 38% and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., at 35%. Overall, 44% had a favorable view of Israel, down from 58% a decade ago. Even the approved faces of reform and opposition are losing shine.
The poll was conducted July 17-20, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research, with interviews with 1,003 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines and cellphones or completed the survey online after receiving a text. The margin of sampling error for the full sample was plus or minus 3 percentage points.