The 2024 election shook the political landscape to its core.
Political insiders are still analyzing what it all means for America’s future.
And an alarming new poll just rocked the Democrat Party with extinction fears.
Democrats face challenges after 2024 election
The political landscape has shifted significantly since the November 2024 election results.
Trump’s win changed the makeup of Congress, with Republicans gaining control of the Senate and making gains in the House, leaving Democrats to assess their path forward.
The finger-pointing began immediately, but the worst news for Democrats is that even their own voters have lost faith in the party’s future.
According to a brand new poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only about one-third of Democrats say they feel “very optimistic” or “somewhat optimistic” about their party’s future.
That’s a concerning number for a party trying to regroup after a difficult election cycle.
Meanwhile, Republicans are feeling more confident. The same poll found that 55% of Republicans feel “very” or “somewhat” optimistic about their party’s future – up from 47% in the summer of 2024.
Democrat voters turn on their own party
The poll revealed that many Democrat voters are fed up with their own party’s leadership and direction.
One Democrat respondent, Monica Brown, didn’t hold back when expressing her frustration.
“I just feel like the majority of the old Democratic Party needs to go,” Brown told the AP. “They’re not in tune with the new generation. They’re not in tune with the new world. We’ve got such division within the party.”
Another Democrat, Damien Williams, admitted he’s lost faith in the party’s ability to counter Trump’s agenda.
“I’m not real high on Democrats right now,” Williams said, according to the AP. “To me, they’re not doing enough to push back against [President Donald] Trump.”
The survey paints a bleak picture for Democrats hoping to make a comeback in the 2026 midterm elections. With core voters demoralized and Republican enthusiasm surging, the party faces an uphill battle to retake control of Congress.
Democrats’ popularity at historic lows
The AP-NORC poll isn’t an isolated warning sign. It follows a March CNN poll conducted by SSRS that delivered even more disturbing news for Democrats.
That survey found the Democrat Party’s favorability rating among Americans had fallen to 29% – a record low in CNN’s polling dating back to 1992.
While Democrats are facing this confidence challenge, Republicans also show some concerns about the broader political environment. The AP-NORC poll revealed that only about three in ten Republicans said they felt optimistic about the overall state of politics in the U.S.
The poll surveyed 1,175 adults from May 1 to 5, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Democrat leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries now face the challenge of rebuilding their party’s confidence, as these polls suggest growing dissatisfaction among their core voters heading into the 2026 midterm cycle.
With President Trump implementing his agenda in the early months of his return to office, Democrats will need to find new strategies to reconnect with their disillusioned base.
