Poll: Three in Four Democrats Open to Socialist Presidential Candidate, Majority of Americans Opposed

A new Washington Post-Ipsos poll finds that three-quarters of Democrats say they would consider voting for a democratic socialist for president, even as a clear majority of the broader American public rejects the idea.

According to the survey, 75 percent of Democrats indicated they would be open to supporting a candidate who identifies as a democratic socialist. By contrast, 55 percent of all U.S. adults said they would not consider voting for such a candidate, while 39 percent said they would and 6 percent offered no opinion. Among registered voters the figures were similar, with 54 percent saying they would not support a democratic socialist.

The partisan gap is stark. Only about 10 percent of Republicans said they would consider backing a democratic socialist presidential candidate, with 88 percent ruling it out. A majority of independents also expressed opposition.

The poll was conducted July 8-13 among 2,648 U.S. adults and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points. Beyond the headline voting question, respondents offered varied and often conflicting descriptions of what democratic socialists stand for when asked in open-ended form. Mentions included economic equality, government control of the economy, wealth redistribution, universal healthcare, helping ordinary people, and associations with communism or Marxism. When asked directly whether democratic socialism is similar to communism, roughly three in ten said it is, three in ten said it is different, and more than a third were unsure.

Only 15 percent of Americans said they like political leaders who identify as democratic socialists, while 36 percent expressed dislike and 46 percent said they neither like nor dislike them.

The findings arrive amid recent primary successes by left-leaning candidates in some Democratic contests and ongoing internal party discussions about how to broaden appeal ahead of the 2028 presidential cycle. Democratic socialism has gained greater visibility through organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America and high-profile local and state races, yet the national numbers indicate the label remains a liability with the general electorate and with Republicans and independents in particular.

The survey underscores a divergence between the preferences of the Democratic base and those of the wider public on the acceptability of socialist branding at the presidential level. While a large majority of Democrats express openness to such a candidate, most Americans overall say they would not cast their ballot for one.