CNBC’s final pre-election poll shows corruption as the top issue for voters

Voters are now more concerned about government corruption than any other issue, including rising food and gas prices, according to the final CNBC National Economic Survey before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

The discovery came after a months-long messaging campaign by Democrats to link widespread economic discontent to rampant corruption by President Donald Trump and his Republican allies.

A CNBC survey of 1,000 registered voters in the United States found that 36% of respondents cited government corruption as one of the most important issues currently facing the country. Food and grocery costs came in second at 34%, followed by protecting democracy and gasoline prices at 23% each.

The national poll, which assessed attitudes toward the economy, President Trump, Congress, artificial intelligence, the war with Iran, and more, was conducted from October 14th to 18th. The poll, co-led by Democratic pollster Hart Research Associates and Republican pollster Public Opinion Strategies, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Read the full survey results here.

Indeed, the question asking voters to name their biggest concerns lists several economic and cost-related topics separately, breaking down issues that might rank high if combined into a single category.

But the results are still in line with other recent polls that show corruption has risen to the top of voters’ list of pressing concerns.

A Fox News poll released last week found that 60% of registered voters are very concerned about government corruption, more than concerns about inflation or high prices. A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday found that nearly two-thirds of respondents believe President Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself, an increase of 10 points since September 2025. Gallup recently found that perceptions of government corruption in the United States have reached a multi-decade high. And a Reuters/Ipsos poll in August found that nearly seven in 10 Americans believe Trump’s business activities influence the president’s decisions.

Republicans are also trying to capitalize on the growing anti-corruption sentiment. The Trump administration has created a task force led by Vice President J.D. Vance to crack down on fraud, while the president has frequently accused his Democratic opponents of wrongdoing.

“What I want to say is that from day one of this administration, we have waged an unprecedented war against corruption and fraud. Our country cannot afford to allow thieves, pirates, foreign fraudsters and basically scum to pillage and pillage,” he said in announcing a new reward system for whistleblowers.

But with Republicans in charge of the federal government and Republicans on the defensive due to President Trump’s tariffs and the high costs associated with the Iran war, Democrats can now hold them more directly accountable.

“President Trump’s choice to go to war with Iran has cost Americans well over $100 billion extra on gas,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, said Wednesday on X. “His ego-driven decisions have cost us hundreds of billions of dollars.”

Their discussions often spotlight President Trump, attempting to draw a contrast between the president’s soaring net worth and Americans’ widely felt economic hardship, his family’s lucrative business dealings and focus on expensive construction projects.

Other Democratic candidates broadened their message, arguing that the system itself is broken.

“The problem is that the people elected by the people do not represent the people. They represent the donors and special interests,” Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff said in a campaign video in April. “Corruption is the reason why things go wrong for ordinary people.”

House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York claims that Republicans have betrayed promises to cut costs.

“The rich and well-connected are making money. What are Republicans doing to lower costs for everyone else? Absolutely nothing,” Jeffries wrote on Friday.

Despite the fact that many remain skeptical of both parties, the Democratic Party’s arguments appear to be resonating with voters.

When asked which party would do a better job of combating government corruption, CNBC survey respondents said Democrats had a 4-point lead over Republicans (35% to 31%).

But among voters who said corruption was the most important issue, the gap widened to 17 points, favoring Democrats.

And while independents say Democrats will do a better job of tackling corruption than Republicans by a 15-point margin, 41% of respondents think neither party can do a better job.

The apparent rise in concerns about corruption is welcome news to the president’s critics, who have long lamented that Americans have become desensitized to scandal during the Trump administration.

Brian Remek, executive director of the Democratic political action committee Defend the Vote, said in an interview that the changes are happening because voters are feeling the effects of inflation and linking that to what they’re seeing in Washington.

“That’s all people are talking about right now,” said Lemech, whose group briefed candidates on the issue in June.

Voters are “opening up to the reality of high costs” and “associating high costs with this corrupt and broken system,” he said.

Additionally, survey respondents overwhelmingly opposed the idea of ​​elected officials, including the president and members of Congress, personally owning or trading stock in individual companies that contract with the federal government. In a poll, 93% of voters said that should not be allowed.

A similar proportion (89%) said companies owned or invested in by members of the immediate family of a sitting president should not be allowed to receive contracts from the federal government.

“This definitely ties into the corruption issues that we’ve been talking about,” said Alicia Simmons of Hart Research Associates.