2026 Exit Polls Show How Rural American Voters Changed Since 2024

Newsweek · Jesus Mesa · 2026-11-05 22:48 UTC

The GOP on Tuesday won small towns and rural areas by 16 points, half of its 32-point margin in 2024, according to exit polling.

Republicans won small towns and rural areas by only 16 points in Tuesday's midterms, half of their 32-point margin in 2024 and close to the 14-point edge they held in the 2018 blue wave, according to exit polling.

The shift helped Democrats take both chambers of Congress and win Senate seats in farm states that had long been out of reach, including Iowa, Kansas and Texas. Polls had shown much of it coming for months, as diesel prices, tariffs and the cost of living squeezed rural households.

"This year has been one of the worst farming years of my 43 year career," John Boyd Jr., founder of the National Black Farmers Association, told Newsweek. Boyd said he was due in court on Thursday over a $41,000 fertilizer bill he does not have the money to pay.

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