The Winston Group’s David Winston and Myra Miller sat down recently with Newt Gingrich on his podcast Newt’s World to discuss the 2026 midterm elections, inflation and the economy, and the growing importance of independents. Listen to the podcast here.
Republicans are hoping to defy history in the upcoming midterm election. From our historical tracking data, the political environment at this point in the year in 2018 looks similar to where things stand today. The Republican brand was about the same in 2018 (36-59 favorable-unfavorable) as it is in the
The future of the filibuster is back in the spotlight as the President continues to push for its elimination. In our latest research for Winning the Issues (March 15-17), we looked at the filibuster and voter reaction to arguments for keeping and eliminating it. Contrast #1 (All Voters): Keeping versus
Neither party came out of last fall’s shutdown as a winner, but Democrats took more hits than Republicans. From our tracking for Winning the Issues, our November post-shutdown survey showed that Republicans ended the shutdown at 37-58 favorable-unfavorable, and in January, are currently at 41-53 fav-unfav. Democrats ended the shutdown
After the longest government shutdown in history, voter frustration with the political system is high. Both parties are viewed negatively, and among independents, the unfavorables of both parties are close to 70% (Republicans in Congress, 25-68; Democrats in Congress, 23-68). Reflecting the frustration with the status quo, independent voters are
The longest federal government shutdown in history is over, with Democrats getting very little in the end. From our new numbers for Winning the Issues (November 15-17), the shutdown was overwhelmingly seen as not worth it (67%) rather than worth it (17%). Only 17% of liberal Democrats and 14% of Democrats said the shutdown was