Democrats widen national lead in poll ahead of Congress elections

A national Marquette University Law School poll conducted Sept. 2–9, 2026 finds Democrats leading Republicans 54%–41% among likely voters for November congressional elections (up from 51%–45% in July); among registered voters the edge is 50%–42%. Inflation and cost of living are cited as the top issue (37%), followed by the economy and the Iran-Israel-US war. The survey sampled 1,023 adults nationwide (margin of error about ±3.3 percentage points overall; ±4.3 for likely voters).