AP-NORC poll finds 8 in 10 voters want major change as Trump approval lags
An AP-NORC survey found 80% of registered voters want substantial change or total upheaval in how the country is run, while 36% approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance.
Eight in 10 registered voters say the United States needs substantial change or complete upheaval in how it is run, according to an AP-NORC survey released Thursday, October 15, 2026. The findings arrive less than three weeks before the November 3 midterm elections and show broad dissatisfaction extending beyond President Donald Trump’s political opponents.
The survey found that 36% of voters approve of Trump’s job performance and 64% disapprove. About 35% hold a favorable view of the president. Those results measure opinion at the time of the poll; they do not by themselves predict turnout or the outcome in individual House and Senate races.
Economic concerns dominate voters’ priorities
The economy and household costs ranked above every other issue tested. Eighty-five percent of voters called the economy one of the most important considerations in their vote, while 84% said the same about the cost of living. Health care was identified by 69%, and 64% named the war with Iran. Immigration and crime each ranked as important to 45% of voters.
Trump’s ratings were weakest on the two leading economic concerns. AP-NORC reported that 74% disapprove of his handling of the economy and 79% disapprove of his response to the cost of living. Crime remained a comparatively stronger area, with 45% approving of his performance on that issue. About two-thirds disapproved of his handling of foreign policy.
The economic dissatisfaction also reaches into Trump’s party. The Associated Press reported that 44% of Republican voters approve of his handling of the cost of living and 54% approve of his economic stewardship. Republican support was higher on other issues, but those numbers show an important weakness on the subjects voters ranked first.
Demand for change crosses party lines
About half of all voters said they want substantial change, and roughly three in 10 favored complete and total upheaval. Democrats and independents were more likely than Republicans to choose the more sweeping option. Even so, 45% of Republican voters said they want substantial change and 13% favored upheaval, indicating that frustration is not confined to the opposition.
The poll also found an advantage for Democrats in preferences for control of Congress, though the gap is not a forecast of seats. Forty-seven percent wanted Democrats to control the House and 46% preferred Democratic control of the Senate. Thirty-eight percent favored Republican control of each chamber, while 15% were unsure.
Democratic voters also reported greater intensity about participating. About three-quarters said voting in the midterms was extremely important, compared with roughly six in 10 Republican voters. Both parties still received unfavorable assessments from many voters: about four in 10 viewed the Democratic Party favorably, while 36% had a favorable view of the Republican Party.
How to read the survey
AP-NORC conducted the nationwide poll from October 8 through October 12 using NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel. The survey included 1,119 adults, of whom 925 were registered voters, interviewed online and by telephone. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.9 percentage points for all adults and 4.2 points for registered voters.
The margins matter when comparing close results, and national opinion cannot show how support is distributed across individual states or congressional districts. Still, the scale of dissatisfaction on prices, the economy and the country’s direction makes the poll a significant snapshot of the political environment Trump and Republican candidates face in the final campaign stretch.
The results also differ from a separate AP-NORC survey released earlier in the week about perceptions of Trump’s business interests. The new October 8-12 poll asks about midterm priorities, congressional control, the president’s performance and the degree of political change voters want.
Sources and image credit
Reporting: The Associated Press. Primary survey materials: AP-NORC findings, topline results and methodology.
Image: Official White House photograph by Molly Riley showing President Donald Trump on the South Lawn on October 6, 2026, via Wikimedia Commons; original in the White House Flickr archive. The image is public domain as a U.S. federal government work. It was cropped and resized to 1600×900 with no text added.