The Latest: Many Democrats are still down on the Democratic Party, AP-NORC poll finds

Democratic candidates have notched a series of wins in recent special elections — but a new AP-NORC poll finds views of the Democratic Party among rank-and-file Democrats have not bounced back since President Donald Trump ’s 2024 victory.

Only about 7 in 10 Democrats have a positive view of the Democratic Party, according to new polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While the overwhelming majority of Democrats still feel good about their party, they’re much less positive than they’ve been in the past.

The midterm elections are still many months away, and lackluster favorability doesn’t spell electoral doom. Other factors could benefit Democrats this year, including broadly negative views of Trump and other Republicans.

But the lack of enthusiasm could be a longer-term problem for the party. Democrats’ favorability of their party plummeted after the 2024 election. And despite overwhelming victories in November’s offseason elections and a string of wins since then, those views haven’t recovered.

The latest:

A coalition of health and environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, challenging its determination that revoked a scientific finding that has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

A rule finalized last week rescinds a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The Obama-era finding underpins nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources heating the planet.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the endangerment finding an example of federal regulatory overreach, while the lawsuit says it enabled commonsense safeguards to cut climate pollution, including from cars and trucks.

The strapless black-and-white gown was designed by her longtime fashion designer and stylist, Herve Pierre, who is seen sketching it for the first lady and fitting her in it in “Melania,” her recently released documentary.

Trump is donating the gown to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History on Friday, according to a media advisory issued by the White House. The museum has a popular exhibit on first ladies that features more than two dozen of their gowns.

It will be Trump’s second donation to the exhibit. In 2017, she handed over the vanilla off-the-shoulder gown she wore to that year’s inaugural balls, which also was designed by Pierre.

Despite the internal negativity, Democrats have at least one potential advantage going into the midterm year.

About one-third of U.S. adults — 35% — trust the Democrats to do a better job handling health care, compared to 23% for the Republicans.

At the same time, Republicans have lost some ground on issues that were key to Trump’s reelection — the economy and immigration — but Democrats haven’t managed to capitalize on that.

Only 31% of U.S. adults say Republicans are the party they trust to handle the economy, down slightly from 36% last year. But Democrats haven’t made any gains on this issue; rather, slightly more Americans now say they trust “neither” party.

It’s not just Democrats — Americans aren’t thrilled with either party right now.

Only about one-third of U.S. adults have a favorable view of either the Democratic or Republican Party, according to the AP-NORC poll. Roughly one-quarter of Americans have a negative view of both, and that double-negativity is especially sharp among independents and Americans under 45.

But Democrats’ loss of goodwill is more recent. Polling over the past 25 years from Gallup shows that Americans used to feel much more positively toward the Democrats. Around 2010, public sentiment turned against them. Since then, at least half of Americans have held unfavorable views of the party.

Negative views of the Democrats now rival the most negative points in time for the Republicans.

Democrats’ positivity about their party fell after Trump won the presidency in 2024. Despite a series of wins in recent special elections, polling shows morale hasn’t bounced back.

New AP-NORC polling shows that 70% of rank-and-file Democrats have a positive view of the Democratic Party. While the overwhelming majority of Democrats still feel good about their party, they’re much less positive than they’ve been in the past.

Democrats’ favorability of their party plummeted after the 2024 election, from 85% in September 2024 to 67% in October 2025.