US Midterm Exit Polls 2026: 74% Say Iran War Shaped Their Vote, 87% Worried About Gas Prices
What made Americans turn against the Republicans? Six findings from the 2026 exit polls on the Iran war, gas prices, the economy and Trump’s approval.
Photo: Joe Hall / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pune, 5th November 2026: The 2026 US midterms turned on two things voters felt every week: the war with Iran and the price of fuel. Exit polls by three American networks show both issues weighed on a large majority of voters, and most of them blamed the White House.
Exit polls are surveys of voters as they leave polling stations, combined with phone or online surveys of early and mail voters. Different networks use different methods, so their numbers are not identical. Below, each figure is named with the poll it comes from.
1. The Iran war shaped most votes
In CNN’s exit poll, 74% of voters said the Iran war was a factor in their vote: 34% put it in the poll’s highest category of importance and 40% called it a “major factor”, as reported from the CNN poll.
The NBC News exit poll found 62% of voters believed President Trump made the wrong decision in starting the war.
2. Fuel prices were the everyday pain
In the CNN poll, 87% of voters were concerned about gas prices: 59% “very” and 28% “somewhat” concerned. Similar shares were worried about grocery bills (88%) and utility bills (86%), according to the Daily Caller’s summary of the exit polls.
The link between the two issues is direct. Brent crude was near a six-month high of $118 a barrel in the week before the vote, before falling on hopes of a US-Iran deal.
3. Most voters think the economy is in bad shape
- 75% said the US economy is in rough shape (NBC News exit poll).
- 65% said Trump’s policies had made the economy worse (NBC News exit poll).
4. The economy still topped the list of issues
Asked to name the most important issue facing the country, voters in the Fox News Voter Poll answered:
- The economy: 39%
- The state of democracy: 32%
- Immigration: 14%
- Health care: 8%
5. A verdict on Trump
About 60% of voters disapproved of Trump’s job performance, according to exit polls cited by Forbes. Midterms often punish the president’s party, but the scale this time was unusual.
6. Democrats won in places Trump carried in 2024
Northeastern University political scientist Kayla Wolf noted that “Democrats are performing well in areas that Trump won in 2024.” Her colleague Costas Panagopoulos called the results “a full-blown repudiation” of Trump and Republican policies.
Others urged caution. Martha Johnson said the wins were not a clear endorsement of a Democratic agenda, which she described as hard to define.
What this means outside America
For India, the Iran war and oil prices are the part of this story that matters most. A Congress less willing to back the war could push Washington toward a settlement, which would ease crude prices. Indian markets rose after the results on exactly that hope. Our report on what the US midterms mean for India covers the market reaction.
Full results are on our US midterm election results page.
How to read these numbers
Exit polls are estimates with a margin of error, and early figures are adjusted once full results are counted. Treat them as a guide to voters’ mood, not exact counts.
