In the full month of September, 47% of voters considered themselves Democrats or leaned Democrat and 42% considered themselves Republicans or leaned Republican. This Democratic lead is the largest of the year, up 2 points from August and 3 from July. Democrats have now led for 9 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 heavily on these "leaners," aided by an unpopular war in Iran and a polarizing president.

Removing leaners, the Democrats hold a 1-point edge: 37% say they are Democrats, and 36% say Republicans. Democrats have gained a point since last month and 2 points from July and June.

However, similar to the Generic Ballot results, close toplines will mean nothing if Republicans cannot convince Traditional GOP voters to show up and vote alongside Trump's base.

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 4,083 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 +/- 1.4%.