Each party’s voters are skeptical about the reasons rival party voters have for their vote
The McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s latest Mood of the Nation Poll, conducted with 824 registered U.S. voters by YouGov from February 18 to 23, 2026, included questions aimed at better understanding voter preferences in the upcoming midterm elections.
Beyond the traditional “generic ballot” question concerning whether voters prefer to vote for a Democrat or Republican for Congress, this survey asked respondents to explain – in their own words – why they prefer the Congressional candidate of one party rather than the other. Further, it also asked them to speculate about the reasons people may have for voting for the opposite party.
Generic ballot
Like other recent polling, this Mood of the Nation Poll shows Democrats leading in the generic ballot by 5 percentage points. Republicans lead among men, older voters, White voters, and those with a high school diploma or less.
Democrats lead among women, younger voters, voters of color, those with at least some college education, and the highest income voters. Democrats also hold an 8-percentage point lead among Independents, although a 37% plurality of that group is undecided.
In their own words: Reasons given for vote choice
Respondents were asked to provide their reasons for their vote preferences. While they were allowed to give up to three reasons, this analysis focuses on the first reason given by each respondent.
Notably, among both Republican and Democratic voters the substantive word most commonly mentioned was the title of the opposite party.
- Among the 295 (unweighted) Republican voters who gave a response, “Democrats” or “Democrat” was mentioned 36 times compared to 23 mentions of their own Republican party.
- Among the 363 (unweighted) Democratic voters who gave a response, “Republicans” or “Republican” was mentioned 73 times, compared to 40 mentions of the words “democrats” or “democratic.”
Examples of these reasons provided by Republican voters included:
“Democrats raise taxes.” – 40-year-old man from the state of Washington
“Democrats put forward radical candidates that I can no longer support.” – 62-year-old man from Iowa
“Democrats are for keeping the poor in need of their help.” – 59-year-old woman from Minnesota
Examples of these reasons provided by Democratic voters included:
“The Republican Party is corrupt and is doing nothing to stop Trump from destroying our country.” – 69-year-old woman from New Jersey
“The Republican party has turned into the fascist party.” – 40-year-old woman from Connecticut
“The Republicans are in charge and doing poorly.” – 26-year-old man from Texas
The other most common words mentioned by Republican voters included: values (30), taxes (21), believe (15), more (16), party (15), conservative (15) and government (12).
The other most common words mentioned by those who said they planned to vote for a Democrat included: Trump (39), more (31), party (26), rights (19), support (16), care (16), values (14).
Word cloud: Most common words mentioned in response to “Can you tell us three reasons why you think [the Republican/the Democratic/your] candidate is best for the country?”*
Republican voters
Democratic voters
What voters for the other party think
One-in-three think a majority of voters for the rival party have sincere belief in that party, including the 9% who indicated “almost all of them” and 26% who indicated “most of them.”
Among Democratic voters slightly more – 38% – said that a majority of Republican voters sincerely believe that the Republican Party is best for the country. Among Republican voters, slightly fewer – 28% — said that a majority of Democratic voters sincerely believe that the Democratic Party is best for the country.
In their own words: What partisans think motivates rival party voters
This survey asked Republican voters to put themselves in the place of Democratic voters, and vice-versa, to see what voters for each of the major parties think is on the minds of their rivals. The question they were asked:
You said that [almost all/most/about half/fewer than half of/a few/almost none of] [Republicans/Democrats]* sincerely feel that the [Republican/Democratic]* Party is best for the country.
Now, we would like you to try to put yourself in the place of those voters and answer the following question as if you were trying to answer exactly the way they would answer.
You said you plan to vote for the [Republican/Democratic]* candidate. Can you tell us three reasons why you think the [Republican/Democratic]* Party is best for the country?
Reminder: you are pretending to be someone who plans to vote for the [Republican/Democratic]* candidate when answering.
My reasons are…
* Note that the blanks are filled in with the party opposite that specified as the respondent’s vote preference in upcoming Congressional elections.
Several respondents had a difficult time completing this task. Approximately 17% percent of Republican voters and 14% of Democratic voters refused to accept the premise, saying things like “I can’t pretend. I will not vote Republican at this time” (68-year-old Democratic voter from Connecticut), or “Sorry, I cannot realistically answer this question” (62-year-old Republican voter from Texas).
What Republican voters think motivates Democratic voters
In addition to the 17% of Republican voters who refused to put themselves in the minds of Democratic voters, another 11% responded with comments that were obviously critical of their rivals. Examples include:
“I am unintelligent.” – 29-year-old man from Missouri
“I will get free stuff.” – 69-year-old man from Arizona
“I have been brainwashed in the public education system” – 80-year-old woman from Indiana
Setting aside the refusals and obviously critical responses, about 72% of Republican voters were willing to take the perspective of Democrats. Their answers often indicated an opposition to President Trump or Republicans in general, but some mentioned social issues, like healthcare, border control and immigration, and social support. Examples include:
“I don’t like Donald Trump.” – 70-year-old woman from Illinois
“Care about immigrants.” – 44-year-old man from California
“Health care and social safety nets.” – 35-year-old woman from Georgia
“Supporting LGBTQ and freedom.” – 31-year-old man from Florida
“Emphasis on addressing climate change” – 30-year-old man from Texas
As summarized in the word cloud, top words mentioned by 213 (unweighted) Republican voters who provided substantive answers while putting themselves in the shoes of Democratic voters include, Trump (40 mentions), more (17), free (17), hate (16), healthcare (13), Donald (10), social (9) and country (8).
Comparing this to this word cloud to the one resulting from Democratic voters themselves, it appears that Republicans envision Democratic voters as more particularly motivated by animus focused directly on President Trump, while Democratic voters are more likely to mention opposition to the Republican Party.
Word cloud:
Republican voters take the perspective of supporters of the Democratic candidate
What Democrats think motivates Republican voters
In addition to the 14% of Democratic voters who refused to put themselves in the minds of Republican voters, another 12% responded with comments that were obviously critical of their rivals. Examples include:
“Because I am racist” – 45-year-old woman from Ohio
“I watch Fox News, and I have been indoctrinated.” – 34-year-old woman from California
“Because they are dumb.” – 45-year-old man from West Virginia
Setting aside the refusals and obviously critical responses, about 74% of Democratic voters were willing to take the perspective of Republicans. Their answers often indicated support for President Trump, but some mentioned issues, like immigration or lowering taxes, or values, including Christianity, or opposition to the left. Examples include:
“Trump is keeping the border under control” – 43-year-old man from New York
“Democrats can’t be trusted” – 37-year-old man from Pennsylvania
“A Republican will protect Christian values.” – 23-year-old woman from Arkansas
“Lower taxes.” – 44-year-old woman from California
“I feel strongly that people should have the right to make choices about their own lives without too much government interference.” – 32-year-old woman from Kentucky.
As summarized in the word cloud, top words mentioned by 262 (unweighted) Democratic voters who provided substantive answers while posing as Republican voters include, Trump (36 mentions), Republican or Republicans (32), taxes (18), country (16), party (14), Democrats (13), government (13) and immigration (11).
Comparing this to this word cloud to the one resulting from Republican voters themselves, it appears that Democrats envision Republican voters as more particularly motivated by support focused directly for President Trump, while Republican voters are more likely to mention opposition to the Democratic Party.
Word cloud:
Democratic voters take the perspective of supporters of the Republican candidate
Survey questions used in this report
Penn State’s nonpartisan McCourtney Institute for Democracy regularly conducts the nationally representative Mood of the Nation Poll.[1]
The winter 2026 poll included the following questions aimed at better understanding the public’s thoughts on the upcoming midterm elections, including which party they plan to vote for and their reasons for their vote preference. In addition, the poll sought to shed light on how partisans think about those who vote for the rival party.
- If the elections for U.S. Congress were being held today, who would you vote for in the district where you live?
- The Democratic Party candidate
- The Republican Party candidate
- A third party candidate
- I am not sure
- I would not vote
- You said you would vote for [answer from question 1]. Can you tell us three reasons why you think [answer from question 1] is best for the country? (Open ended)
- Nationwide, our polls suggest that more than 50 million Americans plan to vote for [sincere_pipe1] candidates. In your opinion, how many citizens voting for the [sincere_pipe2] will do so because they sincerely believe that the [sincere_pipe3] Party is best for the country?
- Almost all of them
- Most of them
- About half of them
- Fewer than half
- A few of them
- Almost none
- You said that [answer from question 3] [opposite party from answer to question 1 (randomize Republican or Democrat if not voting for either major party] sincerely feel that the [opposite party from answer to question 1 (randomize Republican or Democrat if not voting for either major party] Party is best for the country.
Now, we would like you to try to put yourself in the place of those voters and answer the following question as if you were trying to answer exactly the way they would answer.
You said you plan to vote for the [opposite party from answer to question 1 (randomize Republican or Democrat if not voting for either major party] candidate. Can you tell us three reasons why you think the [opposite party from answer to question 1 (randomize Republican or Democrat if not voting for either major party] Party is best for the country?
Reminder: you are pretending to be someone who plans to vote for the [sincere_pipe1] candidate when answering.
(Open ended responses.)
[1] For additional information about the Mood of the Nation Poll see https://democracy.psu.edu/research/mood-of-the-nation-poll/
About the survey
Data collection for this Mood of the Nation Poll was conducted online by YouGov (https://today.yougov.com/). The YouGov panel includes over 1.8 million individuals who agree to complete occasional surveys. The methodology of the spring 2025 poll differs from most Mood of the Nation Polls in that the 3,251 individuals who completed the poll were recontacted from earlier Mood of the Nation Polls.
Most Mood of the Nation Polls, are cross-sectional polls of approximately 1,000 U.S. adults, matched to a sampling frame on gender, age, race, and education. The frame was constructed by stratified sampling from the full 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year sample with selection within strata by weighted sampling with replacements (using the person weights on the public use file).
Full Report
Survey Transparency Disclosures
About the McCourtney Institute for Democracy
The McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State promotes scholarship and practical innovations that defend and advance democracy in the United States and abroad. Through teaching, research and public outreach, the Institute leverages the resources of Penn State and partners around the world to foster a model of deliberation, policymaking and responsiveness that is passionate, informed and civil.
The Mood of the Nation Poll offers a unique approach to public opinion polling. It allows Americans to speak in their own words through open-ended questions that focus on emotions like anger and hope, as well as commitment to constitutional principles.
Contact: democracyinst@psu.edu | democracy.psu.edu
Acknowledgments
This report was authored by Eric Plutzer of Penn State’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy, who also designed the survey questions in his role as Director of the Mood of the Nation Poll, and Craig Helmstetter.