Voters are souring on their own finances for the first time in three decades of NBC News polling, and observers say that could cost Republicans dearly on Tuesday.
The new NBC News poll, conducted Oct. 28-30 among 1,000 registered voters, found that 51% are dissatisfied with their financial situation and 49% are satisfied. It’s the first time in 30 years of NBC News polling that more voters said they were dissatisfied than satisfied.
The poll also found that President Donald Trump’s disapproval rating has hit 60%, a new high across his two terms in NBC polling. Only 40% approve. Asked which party they want controlling Congress, voters picked Democrats over Republicans, 52% to 45%. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
“For the first time in 30 years of @NBCNews polling, more voters say they are dissatisfied with their financial situation (51%) than satisfied (49%),” wrote Republican pollster Frank Luntz.
Ben Kamisar, NBC News’ deputy political editor, highlighted the same finding. He wrote that Democrats “have a 7-point edge on the congressional ballot,” while “Trump’s disapproval rating hits a new high.”
Ernie Ausejo, a University of Alabama law student, wrote, “If there is a blue tsunami on Tuesday, this coupled with the fact POTUS literally says the country is getting rich and doesn’t care about voter’s beliefs, will be one of the major reasons as to why it occurred.”
Logan Mohtashami, lead analyst at HousingWire, pointed to the administration’s economic policy and the war in the Middle East.
“We talked on the podcast recently about how sometimes you need both hands on the stove and to feel the burn to realize that, politically, it’s hard to manage inflation spikes when you have a trade war and a conflict in the Middle East at the same time,” he wrote.
Conservative writer Julie Kelly picked through the poll’s other numbers, noting that it should come with the caveat “no need to reply that no one should believe the polls.” She noted that 73% are dissatisfied with the economy. She also pointed out that Republicans still hold a 2-point edge on handling the economy, an 11-point edge on immigration and a 5-point edge on government corruption, while Democrats lead by just 1 point on inflation.
Kelly also listed favorability numbers from the poll:
The poll was conducted by Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates and Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.
“Democrats are in total control of the 2026 issue agenda,” McInturff said, according to NBC News' report.
“The Trump presidency can be summarized as the promise of two years ago and the peril of two days from now,” Horwitt said.
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