Politics

Vast Majority Of Americans Say They Want Third Party — But Few Of Them Will Vote For One, Poll Says

Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour

The majority of Americans think there should be a third political party in the U.S. — but few voters would be “very likely” to back a third-party candidate, according to a Gallup survey released Monday.

The newly released poll found that 62% of Americans thought a third political party would be needed, while 30% said the Republican Party and the Democratic Party each “do an adequate job of representing the American people.” While 55% of voters said they are at least “somewhat likely” to vote for third-party candidates only 15% said they are “very likely” to do the same, the survey found.

Meanwhile, about seven in 10 Americans under the age of 50 favor having a third party, while 61% of voters between the ages of 50 and 64 and 48% of those aged 65 and older said the same, per the poll.

Moreover, 83% of Americans who hold an unfavorable view of both the GOP and the Democrats think a third party is necessary, according to the survey. Still, even 54% of respondents who view one or both of the parties favorably said the same, the poll found.

A deluge of polls released this year have shown Democrats are facing record low favorability among Americans. A Wall Street Journal poll released on July 25 found that 63% of Americans held an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party, the highest share since 1990.

Democrats are reportedly expressing concerns about recent reports highlighting how their party has lost a large share of registered voters between the 2020 and 2024 election cycles. Despite this, some high-profile Democrats have continued expressing confidence about the party’s chances in next year’s midterm elections.

Additionally, a separate Gallup survey released on Sept. 8 shows that just 42% of Democrats reported having a favorable opinion of capitalism, while 66% expressed a positive view of socialism.

The Gallup poll was conducted via telephone interviews from Sept. 2 to 16, with a random sample of 1,000 U.S. adults. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.