Angus Reid Global Poll: $11 Billion Later, Most Midterm Voters Say Their Minds Were Made Up From the Start

Half of Americans (51%) believe people who made large donations tried to influence the outcome unfairly

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, November 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The 2026 midterm campaign set a record for political advertising, with an estimated $11.2 billion spent or reserved, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact. However, most voters say they had made up their minds before the campaign began.

New data from Angus Reid Global finds that, among those who voted, 86% say their mind was made up from the start and did not change when deciding their vote for the U.S. House of Representatives. Just 4% say they changed their mind at some point during the campaign, and 5% say they stayed undecided until making a last-minute choice.

Those small groups can still matter in close races, and they are larger among voters without a party attachment. Among voters who lean toward neither party, 73% say their mind was made up from the start, compared with 92% of Democrats and 84% of Republicans. Among these unattached voters, 12% say they stayed undecided until the last minute.

Most voters backed a candidate, but one-in-five voted mainly against something. Asked for the main reason behind their House vote, about half of voters (52%) say they wanted that candidate to win, and 19% say they wanted to support that party. One-in-five (22%) voted mainly against something: 12% wanted to limit the power of the other party, and 10% wanted to stop another candidate from winning.

Republican advertising seen as more disrespectful than Democratic advertising. Americans did not think much of the tone of this year's campaign. Half (50%) say advertising by Republican candidates was disrespectful, compared with one-third (32%) who say the same of advertising by Democratic candidates. Views split along party lines. Among Democrats, 73% call Republican advertising disrespectful, while 61% of Republicans say the same of Democratic advertising. Among those who lean toward neither party, 52% say Republican advertising was disrespectful and 35% say the same of Democratic advertising.

Half say large donors tried to influence the outcome unfairly. Asked which groups, if any, tried to influence the outcome of the election in ways that were unfair or illegal, half of Americans (51%) name people who made large donations to a political party or candidate. That is well ahead of companies providing AI tools (30%), Republican candidates (26%), companies operating prediction markets such as Kalshi or Polymarket (24%) and Democratic candidates (22%). Another 19% are not sure.
Concern about large donors crosses party lines, including majorities of Democrats (61%) and those who lean toward neither party (54%), and 43% of Republicans. It is higher among those 55 and older (58%) than among those aged 18 to 34 (44%), and higher among those with household incomes of $100,000 or more (60%) than among those with incomes under $50,000 (43%).

Natalie Lacey
Angus Reid Global
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