The August 2026 Franklin & Marshall College Poll finds that Pennsylvania’s registered voters are deeply concerned about their personal finances, experiencing significant economic stress, and increasingly dissatisfied with President Donald Trump’s performance. Voters say the economy (31%) is the most important problem facing the state. Among those who mention economic problems, Democrats lead Republicans as the party that can best handle the issue (47% to 23%), which is a larger advantage for Democrats than in June (42% to 24%).

The economy is the top concern of every partisan group. Nearly half (44%) of respondents say they are “worse off” financially than a year ago. Economic pessimism and concern about the economy is a direct result of the difficulties the state’s registered voters have paying for necessities. For example, more than half of the state’s voters say it is “very difficult” or “somewhat difficult” to pay their utility bills (57%) or to pay for groceries (55%). 

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s job approval ratings remain steady despite the level of pessimism voters express. Roughly the same number of voters believe Shapiro is doing an “excellent” or “good” job (47%) as governor as believe he is doing a “fair” or “poor” job (47%). The race for governor has changed little since June, with Shapiro leading his Republican challenger, Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, 50% to 25% in the 2026 governor’s race. 

Fewer voters believe Trump is doing an “excellent” or “good” job (27%) as president than believe he is doing a “fair” or “poor” job (73%), a sizable decline since the October poll when his positive approval rating was 41%. The president’s approval ratings for his specific policy actions around immigration, foreign affairs, and inflation have all declined since October. Only one in three (33%) registered voters believes that the president’s policies have helped them personally.

See August Poll

Conducted between Aug. 17-23  by the Center for Opinion Research, the poll recorded responses from 501 registered Pennsylvania voters, including 213 Democrats, 208 Republicans, and 80 independents The sample error is plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.

For more than 30 years, the Franklin & Marshall College Poll has served as a leading source of information about public opinion on issues affecting Pennsylvania.