Illapa Sairitupac, candidate for Democratic New York State assembly, from left, Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, and Brad Lander, former New York City mayor and US Democratic House candidate in New York, campaign during the primary election in New York, US, Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
Adam Gray | Bloomberg | Getty Images
More voters are more likely to support a Democratic candidate than a Make America Great Again supporter or an endorser of President Donald Trump, the CNBC All-America Economic Survey released Friday said.
The poll’s findings come as Democratic candidates are winning Democratic primaries across the country following the November election of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. This change has become a lightning rod for Republicans, who call Democrats communists.
The results indicate that even if there is a minority of self-proclaimed socialists in the elections, the Democrats will have a hand in the mid-November elections, which is considered a referendum on Trump. It also suggests voters like the idea of a more muscular federal government that provides more services in return for higher taxes.
The poll found that 32% of registered voters would be more likely to vote for the candidate if they described themselves as democratic, while 50% would be less likely to vote for that candidate. Twenty-nine percent of voters are likely to vote for a candidate with Trump’s approval rating, while 52% will be less likely. A self-identified MAGA supporter does even worse, with only 27% of voters saying it would make them vote for them and 57% saying it would make their vote less likely.
CNBC’s All America survey was conducted July 8-12 with 1,000 registered voters in the US, in collaboration with Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies. It has a margin of error of +/-3.1%.
Many of the democratic socialists up for a vote this year want to raise taxes on America’s wealthiest to fund universal health care, a higher minimum wage and a universal basic income.
Their election is unlikely to prompt a quick change in policy, given that Republicans are in control of the White House until 2028. But it could mean a more strained relationship between Congress and the executive branch that could halt the Trump administration’s favored policies, while providing a window into how Democrats will govern if they retake the White House in 2028.
Democrats also held a 4 percentage point lead in the general vote, with 49% of voters saying they would prefer a Democrat-controlled Congress and 45% favoring Republican control.
The survey found the president’s approval at 40%, while 59% disapproved, one point worse than the April survey. Sixty percent disapprove of his handling of the economy, which is worse than in April, compared to 38% who approve. Both changes are within the poll’s margin of error, but are consistent with other recent polls about the president’s stance.
Capitalism remains more popular than socialism in the US, the poll found, but has declined in public sentiment in recent years as socialism has gained ground.
Twenty-eight percent of registered voters polled viewed welfare favorably, up from 18% in 2024. 50 percent of voters view capitalism favorably, a slight change from 51% in 2024. 48 percent of voters viewed socialism negatively, while 27 percent viewed capitalism negatively in the poll released on Friday.
Voters aged 18-34 prefer socialism by an average of 18% points, while older people prefer capitalism. That could reshape the electorate in the future. Even today’s younger voters may change their preferences as they grow older.
“If these attitudes continue over time, and today’s 18-49 year olds will maintain those types of attitudes, we’re going to have a big shift in terms of the national conversation and the economic policy goals that we see coming out of Congress and different places over time,” said Micah Roberts, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican research firm. “The attitudes of 18-34 year olds today are the reality of our country in 20 years.”
The pollsters did not believe that some form of socialism would be a good idea for the country, but it was a very narrow margin. 44% of voters polled said some form of socialism would be a bad thing, while 40% said it would be a good thing – closing the gap by half since the last poll. In a 2019 Gallup poll, 43% of adults view socialism as a good thing and 51% see it as a bad thing.
And in 1942, one of the first times this question was answered and with the world embroiled in World War II, 25% of voters thought socialism was a good idea. 40 percent thought it was a bad idea, and 34 percent were undecided.
