The Democratic Party has a lower net favorability rating than their Republican rivals, President Trump and even the much-maligned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a stunning new poll of registered voters.
The NBC News survey found that 30% of respondents had “very positive” or “somewhat positive” views of Democrats, while 52% had “very negative” or “somewhat negative” views of Democrats, for an overall net rating of -22.
The alarmingly low score still represents a recovery for the party from its low point of a -28 net rating in March 2025 (27% positive, 55% negative).
By contrast, Trump scored a -12 favorability rating (41% positive, 53% negative) and the Republican Party recorded a -14 favorability rating (37% positive, 51% negative).
Despite heavy messaging by Democrats against ICE in recent months, the NBC survey found 38% had positive views of that agency compared to 56% with negative views — for a net rating of -18, still better than the opposition party could manage.
In fact, only the nation of Iran (-53 rating, 8% positive, 61% negative) drew a lower net rating than Democrats of the 14 name-tested people and entities.
Individual Democrats did score better than the national party.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of three potential 2028 nominees name-checked in the survey, had 27% of respondents view him positively and 45% view him negatively for a net rating of -18.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris had a net rating of -17 (34% positive, 51% negative), while democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) did the best of the trio with a net rating of -11 (31% positive, 42% negative).
Despite their abysmal favorability rating, Democrats still topped Republicans among respondents’ preference for who should control Congress, 50% to 44%.
Historically, the party not in control of the White House is favored to gain seats in the House of Representatives during the midterms. That’s been the case in every midterm cycle since 1938, with two exceptions in 1998 and 2002.
On the Republican side, Vice President JD Vance — the favorite for the GOP nomination in 2028 — checked in with a -11 approval rating (38% positive, 49% negative), while Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a net rating of -7 (34% positive, 41% negative).
NBC News sampled 1,000 registered voters Feb. 27-March 3 with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.1 percentage points. The poll had an even split of Republican and Democratic-leaning voters.
