In addition, 60% rate their personal financial situation negatively, and 70% say it feels like the economy is getting worse, up 15 points compared to 55% last April and matching a record high.FOX NEWS POLL: BROAD ANXIETY ABOUT AI DOESN’T EXTEND TO JOBSThere is a strong partisan aspect to these economic views, with three times as many Republicans as Democrats rating the economy positively and four times as many Republicans saying it feels like conditions are getting better. Yet that optimism has limits, as more than half of Republicans say economic conditions (56%) and their personal finances (52%) are bad."Setting aside actual economic conditions, polarization is so pervasive now that it’s difficult to imagine a turnaround that could convince Democrats that Trump’s policies are working," says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who works with Democrat Chris Anderson on Fox News polls.Overall, twice as many say President Trump’s policies are hurting (56%) rather than helping (28%) the economy.

Among partisans, only Republicans think they are helping: 57% say so, and that climbs to 70% among MAGA Republicans but drops to 30% among non-MAGA Republicans.FOX NEWS POLL: RECORD NUMBER SAY TAXES ARE TOO HIGH; GOVERNMENT SPENDING SEEN AS WASTEFULPocketbook pressure remains high, with majorities calling prices for groceries (62%), gas (60%), healthcare (55%), and housing (52%) a "major" problem for their families. Gas is the standout, as the share calling those costs a "major" problem jumped to 60%, nearly double the 33% in September 2025 and bringing the number saying it’s a major or minor problem to 89%.The largest number of voters, 43%, cite economic issues such as inflation (26%) and the economy generally (17%) as the most important issues facing the country today.

Other issues rank significantly lower, with around one in 10 naming political leadership/corruption (13%), the war with Iran (11%), political divisions within the country (9%), and immigration (8%) as the top concern. Aside from the Iran war, these priorities are mostly unchanged since last year.Democrats are more likely to cite inflation/economy (41%) and political leadership/corruption (22%), while Republicans prioritize inflation/economy (42%), immigration/border security (14%), and the Iran war (14%). When asked which political party would do a better job handling issues, the poll finds Republicans have the advantage on border security (+16 points), crime (+8), immigration (+8) and national security (+6).

Democrats are favored on climate change (+29 points), healthcare (+21), abortion (+18), transgender issues (+13), inflation (+8 points) and foreign policy (+6). Neither party has a significant edge on handling the economy (D +4) or artificial intelligence (D +5).Independents prefer Republicans more than Democrats on only four of the 12 issues tested and back the Democratic candidate on the generic ballot question by a 57-41% margin. The poll shows if the election were today, 52% of voters say they would back the Democratic candidate in their House district and 47% the Republican.

That’s a five-point edge, within the poll’s margin of error. Democrats were up by six points in January (52-46)."Although these results are good news for the Democrats, there are two important factors to keep in mind when looking at the generic ballot results," Shaw said. "First, because more of the Democratic vote is stacked in heavily Democratic districts, they probably need to win the national vote by one to three points to win a majority in the House.

Second, poll results don’t become particularly predictive of the actual vote until late summer before the election."At this point, more Democrats (68%) than Republicans (60%) say they are "extremely" motivated to vote this year. There’s a similar gap among 2024 voters, with more supporters of Kamala Harris (72%) than Donald Trump (59%) feeling motivated.Meanwhile, voters say both the Democratic Party (61%) and the Republican Party (61%) are focused on the "wrong" issues these days. Independents are 10 points more critical of Republicans (76% wrong focus) than the Democratic Party (66% wrong).When asked what one issue they want the party to talk about less, voters are most fatigued by cultural and identity issues, regardless of which party raises them.

They say Democrats should stop talking about transgender and DEI (19%), Trump (16%) and ICE and border security (11%). For Republicans, voters want less focus on ICE and deportations (16%), Iran and Israel and the war (10%) and culture wars/trans