Help us poll the fight over who leads Democrats

Democrats just won the House and the Senate. Now they pick their leaders. That is one of the first big fights of the new Congress. It isn't the only fight. But it's an important one, and voters should be heard before it's decided.

Before the election, we polled likely voters in 31 races across 11 states. Here is what they told us:

• 59% of Democrats wanted someone other than Chuck Schumer to lead the Senate. Only 22% wanted him.
• 65% of independents wanted someone else. Only 8% wanted Schumer.
• Only 39% of Democrats wanted Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker. Among independents, just 15% did.
• In none of our 31 polls did half of Democrats want either man.

Our polls were close. On November 3 we picked the winner in 27 of 32 races. In the 14 races other pollsters also polled, ours missed the final margin by 4.6 points on average. Theirs missed by 5.5. We came closer than 10 of the 15 pollsters who polled the same races.

Now we go back and ask again. Now that the election is over, we're going back to voters with about 75 new polls. We'll poll the races we polled before the election again. We'll also poll 36 districts held by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, many of them also in the Progressive Caucus, plus Mississippi.

We'll ask a fair, plain question: should Democrats make Jeffries Speaker and Schumer Majority Leader, or choose someone else? And we'll ask what voters want Democrats in Congress to fight for.

These polls cost about $100,000. That is what we're raising. Leaders in Washington listen when someone shows them the numbers. Your gift pays for those numbers. This is a fight worth having.

Pre-election numbers: RedBox Research polls of likely voters, Oct 20–23, 2026, pooled across 31 races in 11 states; not a national sample. Accuracy: vote counts as of Nov 9, 2026, not yet certified. Full results at afightworthhaving.com/polling.