Economic Outlook and Midterms

October 13-19, 2026
Weighted Results

NJ statewide poll
n=667 registered voters

**In general, do you think the country is heading in the right direction or on the wrong track?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Right direction	24%	159
Wrong track	63%	420
Not sure	11%	76
Refuse	2%	13

**Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Strongly approve	19%	126
Somewhat approve	12%	82
Somewhat disapprove	6%	42
Strongly disapprove	58%	386
Not sure	3%	18
Refuse	2%	13

**How would you rate the U.S. economy today. Would you say it's excellent, good, fair, or poor?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Excellent	5%	30
Good	18%	121
Fair	25%	165
Poor	49%	330
Not sure	1%	10
Refuse	2%	11

**Do you think the economy is better or worse than it was one year ago, or about the same?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Better	13%	90
Worse	57%	383
About the same	26%	173
Not sure	2%	14
Refuse	1%	7

**Please rate your level of confidence that votes will be accurately cast and counted in this year's election. Are you:**
Response option	Percent	Count
Very confident	24%	160
Somewhat confident	34%	225
Not too confident	25%	165
Not at all confident	12%	81
Not sure	4%	29
Refuse	1%	7

**Thinking about the outcome of this November’s election, which party would you prefer to see control Congress?**
Response option	Percent	Count
The Democratic Party	55%	369
The Republican Party	31%	209
Not sure	10%	69
Refuse	3%	20

**For the most part, as of today, which party do you trust more to handle the following issues?**
Response option	Democrats	Republicans	Neither	Not sure	Refuse
The cost of living	55% (365)	29% (194)	12% (82)	3% (18)	1% (8)
Immigration	55% (324)	36% (241)	9% (62)	5% (34)	1% (6)
Foreign policy, including the war with Iran	53% (354)	29% (196)	10% (68)	6% (40)	1% (10)
Healthcare	58% (388)	25% (167)	12% (79)	4% (27)	1% (6)
Artificial intelligence	39% (263)	25% (163)	21% (140)	13% (86)	2% (15)

Demographics

**AGE. Please select your age group.**
Age group	Percent	Count
18-29	13%	85
30-44	21%	143
45-64	32%	214
65 and older	30%	200
Refuse	4%	25

**REGION (based on county of residence).**
Response option	Percent	Count
North	49%	327
Central	30%	200
South	18%	120
Refuse	3%	20

**D1. Are you Hispanic or Latino?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Yes, Hispanic or Latino	14%	91
No	81%	540
Refuse	5%	36

**D2. Which of the following best describes your race:**
Response option	Percent	Count
White	66%	453
Black or African American	12%	93
Asian or Pacific Islander	4%	17
Some other race or multiracial	11%	49
Refuse	8%	54

**D3. Which of the following best describes your highest level of education:**
Response option	Percent	Count
Less than a four-year college degree	53%	353
A four-year college degree or more	44%	294
Refuse	3%	20

**D4. Which of the following general categories best represents your household income last year before taxes:**
Response option	Percent	Count
Less than $100,000	39%	262
$100,000 or more	45%	299
Refuse	16%	106

**D5. Do you consider yourself to be a:**
Response option	Percent	Count
Democrat	38%	251
Republican	22%	146
Independent	31%	206
Something else, not sure, or refuse	10%	64

**D6. Lastly, what is your gender?**
Response option	Percent	Count
Man	47%	316
Woman	48%	318
Identify another way or refuse	5%	33

Methodology

The poll of New Jersey residents was sponsored and conducted by the Stockton Polling Institute of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University. Data collection took place from October 13-19, 2026 using NJ voter list sample. A total of 667 New Jersey registered voters were interviewed. Responses were recorded via telephone or online in English. Overall, 96% of interviews were conducted on cell phones and 4% on landline phones. In terms of mode, 75% were reached via dialing with the survey administered by a live interviewer and 25% were reached via text-to-web. The live calls were conducted by Opinion Services. The text messages were sent by Stockton Polling Institute staff from the university’s Galloway campus and included a single-use link to take the survey online. The data were weighted to balance the sample demographics using iterative proportional fitting. Weights were based on the voting eligible population in New Jersey on variables of age, race/ethnicity, education level, region, and sex. The poll's margin of error is +/- 3.8 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The margin of sampling error is higher for subsets. Sampling error does not account for other potential sources of bias in polls such as measurement error or non-response. The poll has a design effect of 1.3. The design effect reflects the increase in sampling variance introduced by weighting adjustments.