Confidence in the Democratic Party’s congressional leadership has dropped to a record low, according to a new national Gallup poll. The survey, conducted April 1–14 and released Thursday, shows only 25% of Americans express confidence in Democratic leadership in Congress—a nine-point drop from the previous low of 34% recorded in 2023. By contrast, confidence in Republican congressional leadership stands at 39%, well above the GOP’s all-time low of 24% in 2014, according to Gallup.
Fueling the drop in confidence in the Democratic congressional leadership were Democrats themselves, Gallup said. “Democratic congressional leaders’ rating among their own party faithful has fallen 41 points since last year to their lowest point ever,” Gallup noted in its release.
The Democratic Party finds itself in the political wilderness after major setbacks in last November’s elections, which saw Republicans regain control of the White House and the Senate while holding onto their narrow House majority. Adding to the blow, Republicans made notable gains among Black, Hispanic, and younger voters—groups that have traditionally formed the core of the Democratic base, Fox News noted. Democrats have grown increasingly angry and energized in response to President Donald Trump’s aggressive actions since his return to the White House three months ago, including sweeping cuts to the federal government and the reversal of long-standing national policies.
The Spring 2025 Yale Youth Poll, released Tuesday, indicates that a growing number of college-aged Americans are now leaning toward the Republican Party over the Democratic Party. The student-led survey found that when asked which candidate they would support in the 2026 congressional elections in their district, voters aged 18 to 21 favored the Republican candidate by an 11.7-percentage-point margin, while those aged 22 to 29 leaned toward the Democratic candidate by a 6.4-point margin.
While the survey revealed a Republican tilt among young voters, many respondents under 30 expressed unfavorable views toward both President Donald Trump and key figures in the Democratic Party. Among this group, Trump’s net favorability rating was -17.9, while Kamala Harris’s rating stood at -1. In contrast, former President Joe Biden fared even worse with a net favorability score of -19.5, as polling in March revealed the Democratic Party is at its lowest approval rating in decades.
“Politicians often promise things to young voters and reach out to young voters, but they can’t do that if they don’t have an understanding of what young voters believe and where young voters are,” Arjun Warrior, a data scientist for the Yale Youth Poll, told the Yale Daily News on Wednesday. “That’s why polls like this are really important because they provide insight — albeit imperfect insight, but insight nonetheless — into what young voters believe.”
