Mainstream Outlets Find Different Polling Averages for Democrats Ahead of Midterms

Split findings have emerged on the Democrats' polling average lead going into the 2026 midterms, with Fox News (Right bias) framing its own data as a historic high for the party and CNN (Lean Left) framing polling from outlets on the left as worrisome.

From the Left: In a TV segment on Monday, CNN's polling analyst Harry Enten reviewed polling from The Washington Post (Lean Left) and CNBC (Lean Left). Enten said, "Yes, they're ahead, but they're ahead – I have to shrink down on the screen – by only four points, which is significantly less than what we saw in 2018 and 2006, when Democrats took back the house. This is an 'uh-oh,' this is a warning sign." For Context, the WaPo poll found Democrats holding a three-point lead with registered voters, and a seven point lead with those "absolutely certain to vote."

Several mainstream outlets from the left and center highlighted this segment in news coverage, and Megyn Kelly (Right) mentioned it on a Sky News Australia (Right) segment. Kelly described the four-point lead as "historically very low." The Washington Examiner (Lean Right) published coverage on similar findings from the RealClearPolitics (Center) average, though it didn't mention the CNN segment.

From the Right: A Fox News poll published on Wednesday found Democrats hold a seven-point polling average advantage in house races, leading 53% to 46%. Fox said 53% is the highest figure either party has achieved in its polls since 1996. When focused on counties that in 2024 were decided by ten points or less, Fox found Democrats to lead 59% to 41%. The poll found Democrats to lead on almost all key issues, except national security, where respondents narrowly favored Republicans by two points.

As of Thursday morning, a few mainstream outlets from the left and center, including MS Now (Left), Daily Beast (Left) and Newsweek (Center) covered Fox's poll results. Several outlets, including Fox itself, highlighted in news articles that Fox News host Brit Hume (Lean Right) told fellow host Bret Baier, "The truth is, there's not much good news for Republicans in this whole poll we did." Hume added, "And the other thing is, of course, on the question of intensity and voter sentiment. It appears Republicans are down, but if you add the people who are very likely or extremely likely to vote, the difference for Democrats is very slight."

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.