Voter rejection of both U.S. parties climbs to 21% ahead of midterms

Democrats lead 55-27 in congressional preference among double haters

A Wall Street Journal poll of 1,500 registered voters, conducted Sept. 16-21 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, found that 21% of the electorate holds unfavorable views of both major parties — a share that has climbed from 13% in the 2022 midterms and roughly 12% in each of the past two presidential elections. The growth of this so-called “double hater” bloc, which both parties now treat as a key segment of the midterm fight, leaves more than 40% of the group still undecided on its congressional vote and roughly half of those leaning either way describing their choice as probable rather than definite.

“I want the Republican Party and Democratic Party to wake up and start doing what they say they’re going to do,” said Troy Evans, 59, a lifelong Republican in a Houston suburb who works in food-company sales. “I haven’t seen it in 40 years.” Evans added: “There seems to be a certain class that’s not held accountable in the political realm. There seems to be two sets of laws… There seems to be boundless amounts of fraud going on.”

Inside the bloc, Democrats hold a 55% to 27% lead when voters are asked which party they will back for Congress, the Journal poll found. The double haters have been a volatile bloc across recent cycles. Exit polls show they backed Democrats in the 2018 midterms, when the party gained at least 40 seats and regained a House majority, and Republicans in 2022, when they picked up nine seats and retook control of the House. Their current tilt toward Democrats is one reason analysts said the party is favored to win a House majority and has a meaningful chance of gaining control of the Senate.

Both parties carry negative images across the broader electorate. Roughly 60% of all voters in the September Journal survey viewed each party unfavorably, with about 40% holding positive views. Among double haters specifically, the most frequent words offered to describe the Democratic Party were “weak,” followed by “corrupt” and then “ineffective.” For Republicans, the top description was “corrupt or dishonest,” followed by “ineffective.”

Several voters interviewed by the Journal grounded their dissatisfaction in economic concerns and a sense that the political system is tilted against ordinary Americans. “It’s insane how much the cost of everything has gone up, and then you take a look at the corporate autocracy of the country and so much money going to the top elite,” said Evans, who added he plans to sit out this year’s midterms despite his decades-long voting history. Kimberly Keener, a 52-year-old bookkeeper in Florida and longtime conservative, said she may also sit out, citing congressional compensation. “Here we are, trying to put gas in our cars, and they’re working part time, making $174,000 per year,” she said. “It’s crazy!”

Amy Walter, editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said the size of the double-hater cohort reflects more than immediate worries over gas prices, tariffs or the Iran war. “There is a deeper structural anger that is coursing through this body politic, and it isn’t going away after November,” she said. “These are voters who are upset at the system writ large. And they are skeptical that either party is going to make their lives easier.”

John Anzalone, a Democratic pollster who conducted the Journal survey with Republican Adam Geller, pointed to a separate May Journal survey in which more than three-quarters of adults agreed that “the economic and political systems in this country are stacked against people like me.” That finding, he said, indicated that voter unhappiness extends beyond cost-of-living concerns. “Voters see the rich, politicians and corporations just getting wealthier while they struggle,” Anzalone said. “And they see corruption everywhere they turn.”

Corruption has become a focal point of the closing campaign. More than 340 different ads from House and Senate candidates and their allies since Sept. 1 have touched on alleged corruption or stock trading by lawmakers, backed by approximately $110 million in ad spending, according to AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm. Senate Republicans tried unsuccessfully this week, before the chamber’s recess, to pass restrictions on stock trading by lawmakers.

“The number of ads now that are about how corrupt and terrible Washington is is profound,” Walter said. “Candidates are leaning in on that. They know that voters are cynical and skeptical, and they’re trying to mine that for votes.”

Greg Strimple, a Republican pollster based in Idaho, said negative advertising is unlikely to sway voters whose views of both parties are already negative. Instead, he said, campaigns need to offer these voters a policy stance or contrast that gives them a reason to vote. Ben Lauter, a 25-year-old student near Detroit, said he plans to vote for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race because El-Sayed supports a challenge to Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York for the party’s Senate leadership. “I belong to a wing of the party that has been historically excluded from power,” Lauter said. “I’d say I disapprove of Democratic leadership.”

Even with their disenchantment, double haters are not disengaged. Just under two-thirds say politics is important to their personal identity — about the same share as among all voters in the Journal survey — and 57% said they voted in the last midterm, slightly below the 62% reported by all respondents. About 60% rate themselves at the highest level of motivation to vote this year, compared with 76% among all respondents.

Walter said that while double haters may show their displeasure by voting against the party in power — Republicans hold the White House and the House in this midterm — their larger importance lies in the position they would put Democrats in if the party wins a congressional majority. “If they’re in control of Congress, they’re dealing with a Democratic electorate that is at best skeptical of the job that they would do,” she said. That would require Democrats to win voters’ trust that they will deliver on campaign promises, she added. “Just being a check on Trump is not enough.”