Democrats get lowest ratings from voters in 35 years

The Democratic Party’s image has eroded to its lowest point in more than three decades, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll, with voters seeing Republicans as better at handling most issues that decide elections.

Only 8 percent of registered voters said they view the Democratic Party “very favorably,” while 63 percent said it’s out of touch with the everyday concerns of Americans. In contrast, Republicans are now trusted more on key issues like the economy, immigration and crime.

The poll, which surveyed 1,500 registered voters between July 16-20, found Republicans have taken the lead on eight of 10 issues tested. In fact, the GOP leads in overall party identification.

The new poll signals a significant warning for Democrats. Although Trump remains a polarizing figure, the data suggests that voters are increasingly viewing the party as ineffective on core issues like inflation, border security, and crime.

According to the Journal‘s poll, Democrats now face a net favorability of -30 points, with only one-third of voters expressing any positive sentiment toward the party. This marks the worst performance for Democrats in the newspaper’s polling history to date.

While Trump’s handling of inflation and tariffs drew significant disapproval—11 and 17 points respectively—voters still trust Republicans more than Democrats to manage those issues in Congress. The GOP holds a 10-point advantage on inflation and a 7-point edge on tariffs.

This makes the task for the Democrats to effectively criticize and contrast with Donald Trump and the GOP much more difficult. It does not mean that Democrats won’t be able to take back the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterms (they likely will), or win back the White House in 2028 (it seems to be a tossup). But if Democrats don’t find a way to rebuild trust with the American people, winning back power will be much harder for them than it otherwise would be.