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CNN’s chief data analyst said the Democratic Party’s approval rating has fallen to historic lows, with pollsters finding congressional Democrats in their worst position on record. Speaking on CNN, Harry Enten said the party’s approval rating is “lower than the Dead Sea” based on recent polling data.
Enten cited results from a Quinnipiac University national poll showing deep dissatisfaction with Democrats in Congress among voters, Newsweek reported. According to the poll, Democrats in Congress have a net approval rating of minus 55 percentage points overall.
Among independent voters, the net approval rating falls even further to minus 61 percentage points.
Quinnipiac University has “never found Democrats, at least those in Congress, in worse shape than they are right now,” Enten said.
Enten noted that independent voters are driving much of the decline but said Democratic voters themselves have also turned sharply more negative. Among Democrats, the party’s approval rating stands at minus 6 percentage points.
That marks a 28 point decline from October, when Democratic approval among party members was plus 22 points.
The polling comes as Democrats look ahead to the 2026 midterm elections, where control of Congress is at stake. Republicans currently hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives, with a 219 to 214 edge. The GOP also controls the Senate with a 53 to 47 majority.
Historically, the party not occupying the White House tends to perform better in midterm elections.
In the 2018 midterms, Republicans lost control of the House as Democrats gained 41 seats.
Despite the bleak approval numbers, Enten said Democrats could still regain control of Congress in 2026.
However, he warned that current polling is “definitely hurting them.”
The Quinnipiac poll found that only 18 percent of registered voters approve of how Democrats in Congress are handling their jobs.
Seventy three percent said they disapprove, a record low approval rating for congressional Democrats in Quinnipiac polling.
The survey was conducted from December 11 through December 15 among 1,035 registered voters nationwide. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Despite the low approval ratings, the poll found Democrats still held a narrow advantage on a generic congressional ballot.
Forty-seven percent of voters said they would want Democrats to control the House if the election were held at the time of the survey. Forty three percent said they would prefer Republicans to control the chamber.
Democrats have also pointed to recent electoral wins as signs the party is not entirely out of favor with voters.
On November 4, Democrats won several key races, including the New York City mayoral election.
In that race, Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani defeated independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Speaking to Newsweek, Mark Shanahan, a professor of American politics at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, said Democrats are hoping to replicate those localized successes nationally.
Shanahan said strong candidates and locally focused campaigns could help improve the party’s standing ahead of the midterms.
However, he warned that if approval ratings do not improve, the 2026 midterms could become a contest between two unpopular parties.
Shanahan said Democrats have struggled to recover from significant voter losses in the last election cycle.
Conservative commentators seized on the polling results following Enten’s remarks. Benny Johnson wrote on X that CNN had delivered devastating news for Democrats. RNC Research also weighed in, posting that polling shows even Democrats disapprove of their own party.
Analysts said Democratic approval ratings are likely to fluctuate in the months ahead as campaigns take shape.
The true test for the party will come when voters head to the polls in November 2026.
