Plus polling on election worries, trust in the parties, press secretaries, Ilhan Omar, school shootings, and gas prices.
All of this week's Quick Takes are among registered voters.
- 57% say voting is mainly a duty for them personally, and 34% say it is mainly a choice. Democrats (63%) and Republicans (59%) are more likely than Independents (47%) to call it a duty
- 39% say someone from one of the campaigns or political parties has contacted them about voting in the 2026 election, and 53% say no one has. Among people who have been contacted, 67% say someone associated with the Democrats contacted them and 64% say someone associated with the Republicans did
- 36% have a great deal or quite a bit of confidence that the 2026 congressional elections will be held fairly, 31% a moderate amount, and 27% only a little or none at all. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they have a great deal or quite a bit of confidence (45% vs. 31%)
- More say Democrats than Republicans would do a better job handling transgender rights (52% vs. 23%), keeping us out of wars (46% vs. 22%), and handling inflation (41% vs. 34%). More say Republicans than Democrats are better at handling immigration (45% vs. 39%). Opinion is almost evenly divided on who would do a better job eliminating corruption in government: 35% say Democrats and 34% say Republicans
- Who has been Donald Trump’s best White House press secretary? While 39% say none of them and 21% aren’t sure, the largest share choosing a named option say Karoline Leavitt (21%), followed by Sarah Huckabee Sanders (8%) and Kayleigh McEnany (7%). Fewer say Sean Spicer (1%), Stephanie Grisham (1%), or Katie Zacharia (1%)
- 20% say Zacharia has been Trump’s worst press secretary, more than choose any other option; 41% aren’t sure
- 31% have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Ilhan Omar and 43% have an unfavorable one. Democrats view her favorably by 61% to 9%, and Republicans view her unfavorably by 74% to 6%
- 70% — including 43% of Democrats, 68% of Independents, and 97% of Republicans — strongly or somewhat agree that there are only two genders, male and female. More men than women agree there are only two genders (79% vs. 62%)
- 50% say government can prevent further school shootings, while 40% say shootings will recur regardless of government actions
- 67% say gas prices where they live are going up a lot or a little, and 16% say they’re going down. 82% of Democrats and 70% of Independents say prices are going up, compared with 50% of Republicans
- We asked respondents who said gas prices where they live are going up to tell us in their own words why they think gas prices have risen. With the help of an AI tool to analyze responses, we find that 41% point to the Iran war, 18% to President Trump, and 17% to war in general. (People who name multiple reasons are counted in multiple categories)
- Respondents who said gas prices where they live are going down were asked why they think gas prices have gone down. 15% point to government market action, 13% to the easing of conflict in the Middle East and Iran, 13% to greater supply, and 12% to crude oil pricing. 13% say prices remain high even though they're down locally
See the toplines and crosstabs for the October 19–20, 2026 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,501 registered voters. Respondents were selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. region, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent's most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for those who are currently registered to vote is approximately 3%.
Image: Getty (Joe Raedle / Staff)
What do you think about the election, American politics in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
