Poll shows many Americans doubt Trump will accept GOP midterm losses
Poll shows many Americans doubt Trump will accept GOP midterm losses
Terry Collins, USA TODAYTue, October 20, 2026 at 4:57 PM UTC
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A majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump will not accept the results if Republicans lose the midterm elections, according to a poll.
About 70% of U.S. registered voters participating in The Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll doubt the president will take any GOP losses well. About 36% of Republican voters polled say they aren't confident Trump would accept the losses, compared to 77% of independents and 94% of Democrats.
More than 2,500 registered voters participated in the poll conducted Oct. 9-13, which has a two-percentage-point margin of error.
The poll's release comes two weeks before Election Day on Nov. 3, with results indicating that more Americans expect Republicans to lose control of the House of Representatives, but that expectation is not a consensus. About 35% of those polled predict Democrats will win control, while 16% expect Republicans to remain in power.
Some 28% of voters surveyed see the battle for the House as a "toss-up," and 21% are unsure, the poll added. However, Democrats and Republicans agree almost identically that the midterm elections will be fair and accurate. About 70% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans say they are confident about the election results.
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Poll: Americans certain Democratic leaders would accept midterm loss
Americans are more confident that Democratic Party leaders would accept midterm losses, The Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll said. Overall, 61% polled said they were very or somewhat confident. Meanwhile, that perspective was split along party lines.
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The poll said 88% of Democrats are confident their party leaders would accept midterm losses, compared to 36% of Republicans. Among independents, 58% polled say they are confident Democratic leaders would accept a loss.
Additionally, undecided voters and those who didn’t plan to vote polled say they have the least confidence in Democrats to accept a loss, at 37%, with another 16% confident in Trump doing the same.
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Will votes be counted accurately and fairly?
Also, the poll said about 6 in 10 Americans said they were somewhat or very confident the midterm elections would be conducted fairly. Independents were less certain; about 51% expressed confidence, and another 47% expressed a lack of confidence.
The poll said 65% of Americans are confident that the votes will be counted accurately, comparable to the 66% of Americans polled shortly before the 2022 midterms, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted at the time.
In the latest poll, about 76% of Democrats are slightly more confident than the 68% of Republicans surveyed who said that votes will be counted accurately. Around 55% of independents polled say they are confident votes will be counted accurately.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Poll shows many Americans doubt Trump will accept GOP midterm losses
Source: “AOL General News”
