Californians More Enthusiastic About Midterm Elections as Trump Approval Ratings Fall

Californians overwhelmingly view President Donald Trump and his policies negatively, according to a new poll that also found growing enthusiasm in the state for the 2026 midterm elections.

The poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, meanwhile, also suggests the race for governor remains up for grabs. Former Rep. Katie Porter leads a crowded field, though the survey was conducted last month, before Rep. Eric Swalwell and businessman Tom Steyer, both fellow Democrats, entered the race.

Porter had 21% support among likely voters, followed by former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, and businessman Steve Hilton, a Republican, tied at 14 %.

But Mark Baldassare, the PPIC survey director, noted that 40% of voters said they were not satisfied with their choices of candidates.

“Obviously, it’s a wide-open race, and many people say that they’re currently not satisfied with the choices that they had, so we’ll see how people feel now that there are more choices,” he said, noting that Porter likely benefited from her run for U.S. Senate last year, which helped raise her profile among voters.

“The other important thing to keep in mind is that many Californians are saying they’re looking for somebody with experience and a proven track record, but not necessarily somebody who’s gonna continue to do what Gavin Newsom has done, although he remains popular as governor,” Baldassare said.

The PPIC survey also found Trump with the lowest approval ratings since his term started nearly a year ago: 25% of California adults and 29% of likely voters approve of his performance, down from 30% and 33% at the start of the year, respectively. Those numbers are driven by partisan identity: Just 4% of Democrats and 21% of independent voters approve of the president, while 79% of GOP voters say they approve of Trump’s performance.

More than two-thirds of Californians and likely voters also disapprove of some of the president’s key policy pushes, including the job Immigration and Customs Enforcement is doing and the deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities, including Los Angeles. And 70% of both groups say Congress should take action to extend the tax credits for Affordable Care Act insurance, which are set to expire at the end of the year.

“A lot of what we’re seeing in terms of the president’s approval rating, and for that matter Congress, has to do with a misalignment between the priorities of Californians, policy-wise, and what they’re seeing coming out of Washington right now,” Baldassare said.

Given those concerns about the direction of the federal government, Baldassare said it’s perhaps unsurprising that Californians are more enthusiastic than usual about the 2026 midterm elections, particularly the battle for control of the House of Representatives. About 6 in 10 voters say they want to see Democrats regain control of Congress, and more than 60% said that passing Proposition 50 was “mostly a good thing” for California, with more than half saying it was worth the cost.

“I’ve asked this question in other special elections and didn’t get a similar response,” Baldassare said. “We’re seeing fairly positive ratings for the direction of the state overall and both Governor Newsom and the Legislature. And that’s pretty remarkable given how doom and gloom people are about the economy and democracy in general.”

Baldassare said, however, that voters list different concerns when they are asked about the biggest problems facing the U.S. and the state. When asked about the most important problem facing the U.S. today, the largest segment — one-third of voters — cited political extremism and threats to democracy. For California, poll respondents cite the cost of living and economic conditions as the most important issue.

“We see very few people saying that they’re satisfied with the way democracy is working in the U.S.,” Baldassare said. “For me, most alarming in this poll was the increase that we saw in the number of people who thought that there’s going to be more political violence in the future. … Overall, Californians are feeling that, yeah, the economy is a problem, but what we’re seeing coming out of Washington right now really bothers us in terms of where democracy is headed, both for the president and the Congress.”

The survey of more than 1,600 Californians was conducted between Nov. 13 and Nov. 19.