Poll: What partisans want from their parties ahead of 2026 primary season
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President Trump is a central figure for both Democrats and Republicans, going into the primary season, ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
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Politics CBS News poll on what partisans want from their parties ahead of 2026 primary season By Anthony Salvanto Anthony Salvanto CBS News Director of Elections and Surveys Anthony Salvanto, Ph.D., is CBS News' executive director of elections and surveys. He oversees the CBS News Poll and all surveys across topics and heads the CBS News Decision Desk that estimates outcomes on election nights Read Full Bio Anthony Salvanto March 2, 2026 / 6:14 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google The primary season begins in earnest this week, as partisans help set the parties' directions and message ahead of the November midterm elections. So what do those partisans want? Much of that revolves around their parties' approach to someone not actually on the ballot: President Trump. Rank-and-file Democrats are roughly split between wanting their party to talk about its own policy ideas – and, even more, talking mainly about how to stop Donald Trump. Republicans, for their part, largely say it's important to have GOP candidates who are supportive of Mr. Trump — at least somewhat, if not very supportive. This is especially important to MAGA Republicans. Those Democrats who call themselves liberal are even more likely to want the party to talk about stopping Mr. Trump. The Republicans, for their part, are not nearly as concerned about stopping Democrats, perhaps because their party is already in power. Primaries can sometimes be a collective balancing act for voters, between what partisans want in a candidate and the strategic approach of anticipating what the wider electorate might want in a candidate. Across all voters, it's a fairly even split in appeal between voters who'd want a Democrat who's thought of as liberal or progressive and one thought of as moderate. Within the Democrats' own rank and file, there's a slight tilt toward a progressive candidate over a moderate. All that illustrates a dynamic that's sure to be a point of discussion within the party. Among those voters co...
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