With midterm elections only one year away, Republicans are more optimistic about their party’s future than Democrats are. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted just before the government shutdown began and released late last week, 67% of Democratic voters say that they are “frustrated” with their own party and elected representatives, up from 48% who said the same ahead of the 2022 midterms.

Democrats are also less hopeful (down 19 points since 2021) about and proud (down 15 points since 2021) of their own party. Before the government shutdown, most (41%) Democrats said that their elected representatives weren’t doing enough to oppose President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress, while others cited lack of good leadership (13%), lack of a coherent agenda or message (10%), and being out of touch with voters (8%) as other sources of frustration.

Republicans, meanwhile, are far more satisfied with their party than they were ahead of the 2022 midterms, when 51% of GOP voters said that their party made them feel “frustrated.” Now, only 40% of Republicans say that they are “frustrated” with their party. Likewise, 52% of Republican voters say that they are now proud of their party, up from 43% in 2021. The GOP also enjoys broader support on major policy points, with a 17-point advantage on crime policy and a nine-point advantage on immigration. Republicans also hold a slight advantage over Democrats on gun policy (four points), dealing with budgeting and the deficit (four points), and economic policy overall (three points), although the GOP held a 12-point lead on the economy in 2023.

Americans overall, regardless of politics, are more frustrated with the Democratic Party than with the GOP. A total of 75% of Americans expressed their frustration with the Democrats, compared to 64% who said that they are frustrated with Republicans. Additionally, over a third (36%) of Americans said that they are “hopeful” about the Republican Party, but only 28% said the same about the Democratic Party. Nearly 30% of Americans also said that they are “proud” of the Republican Party, while only 16% reported being “proud” of the Democrats.

In comments to The Washington Stand, FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter said, “It’s not just Democratic voters who feel frustrated with their party, 75% of Americans feel frustrated by the Democratic Party.” He explained, “While the party faithful are frustrated because they want their members to be more antagonistic and confrontational with the Trump administration and their Republican colleagues in Congress, most Americans are frustrated with the Democratic Party because they believe the party holds extreme views.”

“The Democratic Party is truly between a rock and a hard place. Unfortunately, for the American people, as Tuesday’s election results show, the Democratic base is inclined to push the party further left,” Carpenter continued. “It remains to be seen if the new faces of the Democratic Party worsen their standing among all American voters.”