Gallup poll shows socialism hits record 43% favorability amid 2026 election surge

Gallup’s latest August poll shows 43% of U.S. adults expressing a favorable view of socialism, the highest figure since the poll’s inception in 2010 and the first time it has exceeded 39%. While capitalism (55%) and free enterprise (81%) still lead, socialism has moved ahead of big business, which sits at 35%, though small business remains the top-rated concept at 95%. The shift mirrors recent electoral successes for democratic socialists, including primary wins in New York, a mayoral victory for Janeese Lewis George in Washington, D.C., and Abdul el Sayed’s upset in Michigan’s Senate primary.

Younger voters (18-34) favor socialism (57%) over capitalism (43%), whereas older adults (55+) show the opposite trend. Democrats rate socialism as positively as free enterprise (65%), while only 14% of Republicans do so. Republican leaders, including Donald Trump, have intensified attacks framing the Democratic Party’s leftward move as a “communist takeover.”