In the full month of October, 45% of voters considered themselves Democrats or leaned Democrat and 42% considered themselves Republicans or leaned Republican. This is down 2 from September, and identical to August. Democrats have now led for 10 straight months.

The Impact of Leaners
In the current political environment, neither party can muster a majority who believes it supports America's founding ideals. However, among Independent voters, most report leaning towards one party or the other. The Democratic lead depends on these "leaners," aided by an unpopular war in Iran and a polarizing president.
Removing leaners, the parties are tied: 36% say they are Democrats, and 36% say Republicans.
A New Trend Continues
The Democratic edge throughout 2026 stands in stark constrast to 2025, when Republicans led every month except April, the same month President Trump announced his unpopular tariffs.
Survey Methedology
This Napolitan News survey is based upon interviews of 4,110 registered voters. A description of the dynamic party weighting results used to obtain these results is available here.
This data is from a Napolitan News Service survey of 5,140 Registered Voters conducted online by Scott Rasmussen for the full month of August, 2026. RMG Research, Inc., conducted the field work for the survey. It has a margin of error of +/- 1.5%.