WASHINGTON — A recent poll indicates that Americans concerned about crime, immigration, and the economy tend to favor Republican solutions over Democratic ones as the midterm elections approach.
A survey conducted by The Washington Post/Ipsos revealed that a plurality of US adults express greater trust in the GOP regarding crime (44%), immigration (42%), and the economy (39%).
In stark contrast, only 22% of Americans prefer the Democrats’ approach to crime, 29% to immigration, and 32% to economic matters.
Amid rising concerns, President Trump has made crime reduction a central focus of his administration, facilitating the deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, DC, as well as dispatching forces to major cities such as Memphis to apprehend repeat offenders and seize illegal firearms and drugs.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, has publicly acknowledged a significant decrease in violent crime in the nation’s capital, reporting a 45% drop in the initial weeks of Trump’s intervention compared to the same timeframe last year. However, several Democratic mayors in other cities have declined federal assistance.
Furthermore, Trump’s immigration strategy appears to be yielding results, maintaining illegal border crossings at a historic low.
In a recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump stated, “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders. Your countries are going to hell.”
He reiterated that enforcement measures lead to drops in illegal crossings: “Once we started detaining and deporting everyone who crossed the border and removing illegal aliens from the United States, they simply stopped coming.”
While federal judges have occasionally limited Trump’s authority to advance some aspects of his immigration policy, particularly regarding humanitarian protections, the Supreme Court has largely sided with him on various appeals.
In financial markets, despite initial concerns following the 47th administration’s announcement of mutual tariffs, stocks have rebounded as the president and his cabinet negotiated favorable agreements with key trading partners.
According to the Ipsos/Post survey, one-third of Americans expressed dissatisfaction with both major parties’ approaches to crime, while 28% reported similar sentiments regarding immigration and economic policy.
As noted by CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten, “At this particular point, the ball may be on the ground, but the Democrats have not picked up the ball.” He remarked that Republicans are currently leading on the crucial issues affecting voters.
Despite comparisons to the Ipsos polls prior to the 2022 midterms, Enten observed that the GOP has strengthened its position among voters—gaining 10 percentage points on immigration and 9 points regarding crime since that election cycle.
However, Republicans have lost 5 percentage points of support concerning economic issues.
At present, Democrats maintain a slight edge of 3.6 percentage points on the generic 2026 congressional ballot, per the RealClearPolitics polling average.
Enten summed up the findings, stating that “Whatever Democrats are doing, it ain’t working,” pointing out that independent voters favor Republicans on all three major issues.
Among the unaffiliated voters surveyed by Post/Ipsos, the GOP’s handling of crime is supported by a notable 21 percentage points, while support for their immigration strategies is by 10 points. Independents marginally favor Republicans on economic matters, leading by just one percentage point.
The poll, which was conducted from September 11-15, included 2,513 US adults surveyed in both English and Spanish, with a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.
