Opposition to data centers growing; majority think US spending too much on Israel aid
A new Emerson College Polling survey of likely 2026 voters finds the Democrats with an 11-point advantage over the Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, leading 53% to 42%. President Trump holds a 39% job approval rating, consistent with the past two months, whereas his disapproval increased another point, to 57%.
“Driving the Democrats’ significant lead on the ballot are women voters, who break for the Democratic candidate by a 27-point margin, 56% to 39%, while men are more split: 49% support the Democrat and 44% the Republican,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
Looking ahead to the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination contest, top contenders include former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (19%), California Governor Gavin Newsom (17%), Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff (13%), and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (13%). Eight percent support former Vice President Kamala Harris, 7% Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, 5% Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and 3% Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Thirteen percent are undecided.
“Ossoff was added to the Democratic ballot test this month, and entered at 13%, driven by stronger support among men, at 18%, compared to 8% among women,” Kimball noted. “Newsom is strongest among women at 25%, compared to 8% of men. Similarly, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s support is higher among women, at 16%, compared to 9% of men. Buttigieg, on the other hand, has equal support among both men and women at 19%.”
On the Republican ballot test, voters remain split between Vice President JD Vance (39%) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (38%). Five percent support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump Jr. respectively, while 9% are undecided.
A majority of voters (61%) think the United States is spending too much on aid to Israel, while 32% think they are spending the right amount, and 7% too little. Democrats (85%) and independents (68%) think the country is spending too much on aid to Israel, while a majority of Republicans (55%) think the country is spending the right amount.
A majority of voters (63%) oppose data centers being built in or near their community, while 27% support them; 10% are neutral. This is a significant 21-point increase in opposition since the question was asked in December 2025, from 42% to 63%, while support decreased six points, from 33% to 27%.
Those with higher degrees of educational attainment oppose data centers most strongly: 79% of those with postgraduate degrees oppose, a 27-point increase since December (52%), and 72% of those with college degrees oppose, a 25-point increase since December (47%). Thirty-seven percent of those with a high school degree oppose, a nine-point increase since December (28%).
Voters are more concerned (63%) rather than excited (14%) about artificial intelligence, while 22% are neither concerned nor excited about AI.
Following the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, voters were asked how interested they found themselves in the tournament. Twenty-seven percent were very interested, 39% somewhat interested, and 33% not interested at all. Compared to the week prior to the World Cup, disinterest in the Cup lowered from 45% who were not at all interested to 33% not at all interested, and those who were “very interested” increased from 22% to 27%.
“The World Cup was able to spark voters’ interest this summer, driven by high levels of attention among young voters (62% very interested) and Hispanic voters (42% very interested),” Kimball noted.
For the first time in President Trump’s second term, threats to democracy is the top issue for a plurality of voters (28%), a 10-point increase from the June national poll (18%). The economy is the top issue for 27% of voters, down 11 points from June (38%), followed by immigration (16%) and healthcare (13%).
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling national survey was conducted July 19-20, 2026. The overall sample of U.S. likely voters, n=1,100, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 2.9 percent. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting registered voters from a voter file provided by Aristotle using MMS text-to-web, additional panel interviews were provided by PureSpectrum. The survey was hosted on QuestionPro. All respondents were recruited using customized links that prevent responses from anyone outside of the poll’s sample frame. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with exact wording and order, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found below.
