- Given a choice between 4 candidates of equal skills and temperament, 31% of voters would prefer a candidate who advocates Trump-like policies.
- This matches the low of 31% who preferred a Trump-like candidate in April 2024.
- A Napolitan News survey of 9,239 Registered Voters in January found 23% would favor a traditional Democrat.
- One in 5 (19%) would favor a candidate advocating policies like those of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC).
- Just 18% would favor a candidate advocating traditional Republican policies.
- Between January 2024 and March 2025 (when Bernie Sanders was used in place of AOC*), voters who favored Bernie Sanders-like policies stayed between 20% and 22%.
- Since August 2025, when we started tracking voter opinions on AOC-like policies, her name and policies have polled slightly lower than Sanders, at a consistent 19%, except for November and December when it increased to 20%.
- Over the past 5 years, a plurality has always favored a candidate offering Trump-like policies.
- The number preferring Trump-like policies has dropped each month since June of 2025, from 37% at that time to the present low.
- The number preferring a candidate with Trump-like policies has ranged from a low of 31% in April 2024 to a high of 38% several times, most recently in January 2025.
- When President Trump won the 2024 election, 37% of voters preferred a candidate advocating policies like his.
- See the December, November, and October results.
* Since October 2020, we have asked this question, but about a candidate supporting Senator Bernie Sanders' policies, rather than about AOC's. August was the first complete month using AOC in place of Bernie Sanders.
When we started this series in 2020, Bernie Sanders was the leading voice of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Now, AOC has taken on that role. It is appropriate, therefore, to make changes to our question wording to reflect that reality. The change from Bernie Sanders to AOC had no impact on Trump and Traditional Republican figures.
This data is from a Napolitan News Service survey of 9,239 Registered Voters conducted online by Scott Rasmussen, January 2026. RMG Research, Inc., conducted the field work for the survey. It has a margin of error of +/- 1.2.
