Both political parties have significant work to do to convince Americans that they are fighting for them, according to the new NBC News Stay Tuned Poll powered by SurveyMonkey, with Democrats struggling to rally their own base of supporters.
The poll finds a plurality of adults (38%) say neither political party fights for people like them, while 24% say the Republican Party fights for them, 23% say the same of the Democratic Party, and 15% say both parties. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
The pessimism about the major parties comes after a 2024 election that saw a third-party hopeful, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., hit double-digits in some national polling before fading and eventually endorsing Donald Trump. And some big upcoming elections are set to have notable independent contenders, including the governor's race in Michigan, where Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is running as an independent.
The survey also finds some angst among the Democratic Party’s more liberal supporters. Among those who say they consider themselves progressives first (as opposed to considering themselves Democrats first), 38% agree that neither party fights for them, while just half say they think their party fights for people like them.
By contrast, among the adults who say they align more with the Make America Great Again movement than the Republican Party itself, only 23% say neither party fights for them, compared to 67% who say the Republican Party fights for them.
Negative feelings about the Democratic Party and the GOP are driven largely by younger Americans, with 45% of adults ages 30-44 and 41% of adults ages 18-29 saying neither party fights for them — slightly higher shares than the older adults surveyed.
A sizable majority of those who voted for a third-party candidate in 2024 (69%) and a large plurality of those who did not vote (47%) also picked neither party when asked which one fights for people like them.
Months after a presidential election that was supposed to feature the two oldest nominees in American history (before then-President Joe Biden ended his bid), an overwhelming majority of adults (77%) also agree with the statement that “nothing will change in this country until we elect a new generation of leaders in Washington.”
The desire for a new generation of leaders is consistent across age groups, with more than 75% of adults in each generation agreeing with the statement.
That view is most prevalent among Democrats, with 89% agreeing with that statement, compared to 65% of Republicans. Both factions of the Democratic Party are also in agreement, with 90% of progressives saying Washington needs a new generation of leaders, and 89% of those who align more with the Democratic Party staying the same.
The push among these progressive Democrats is fueling some new primary challenges against longtime Democratic incumbents.
Down on both parties
It all colors the dim view that Americans have of their nation’s two political parties. But while majorities hold unfavorable views of both parties, Democrats are in worse shape with their own base.
Overall, both parties are viewed similarly among American adults: 40% view the Democratic Party favorably while 60% view it unfavorably, while the Republican Party is viewed favorably by 44% and unfavorably by 55%.
While the GOP has slightly better ratings overall, the bad news for Republicans is that political independents are actually lower on the party than they are the Democrats. (30% of independents view the GOP favorably, and 36% view the Democratic Party favorably.)
But for Democrats, their woes come in part from issues within their coalition, as 22% of Democrats view their party unfavorably, compared to just 13% of Republicans who feel that way about the GOP.
Those who identify with the progressive movement are far more likely to view their party unfavorably — as 30% of those progressives share that negative view of the Democratic Party. By comparison, just 10% of supporters of the MAGA movement view the GOP unfavorably.
The poll continues to underscore the gender gap that shapes this moment in American politics: 45% of women view the Democratic Party favorably, compared to 35% of men, while 49% of men view the Republican Party favorably, compared to 40% of women.
And that gap is more pronounced among younger voters between the ages of 18 and 29. Just 27% of these women view the Republican Party favorably, but 44% of these men do. On the flip side, 38% of young men view the Democratic Party favorably, compared to 54% of young women.
Party loyalty in flux
The survey also sheds new light on the composition of both parties and the degree of loyalty members feel (or don't feel) toward them as institutions.
Of the Republicans surveyed, a majority (56%) say they consider themselves to be more a supporter of the MAGA movement, while 44% say they are more a supporter of the Republican Party.
Those self-described MAGA Republicans are more likely to be white, male, and those without college degrees.
But even as President Donald Trump made gains among young men in November, a higher share of men ages 18-29 align more with the GOP than the MAGA movement. The same is true for all Republicans under 30.
An identical majority of Democrats (56%) say they align more with progressive causes and the progressive movement, while 44% say they align more with the Democratic Party.
Younger women and women with college educations are more likely to say they support the progressive movement, as are white Democrats. Among Black Democrats, about twice as many identify themselves as supporters of the Democratic Party first, as opposed to supporters of the progressive movement first.
This NBC News Stay Tuned poll was powered by SurveyMonkey, the fast, intuitive feedback management platform where 20 million questions are answered daily. It was conducted online April 11-20 among a national sample of 19,682 adults aged 18 and over, including 2,230 adults ages 18-29. Reported percentages exclude item nonresponse and round to the nearest percentage point. The estimated margin of error for this survey among all adults is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points. The estimated margin of error for this survey among 18-29-year-olds, or Gen Z, is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
