Major Political Reforms Favored by Both Democrats and Republicans in the Battlegrounds

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Oct 08, 2026, 09:00 ET

New Surveys in 39 Battleground States and Districts on Congressional Redistricting, Stock Trading, Term Limits, Campaign Finance

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As Americans' trust in US political institutions remains near an all-time low, new battleground surveys of nearly 20,000 Americans reveal bipartisan majority support for major political reforms. These findings come from surveys conducted by the Program for Public Consultation (PPC) in 11 competitive states and 28 competitive House districts.

The following reforms – all based on proposed Congressional legislation – are favored by majorities of both Democrats and Republicans in all battlegrounds surveyed, and nationally, with one exception.

Government Reforms:

Require that all Congressional redistricting be conducted by non-partisan citizen commissions
Place term limits on Members of Congress
Use ranked choice voting for Congressional elections (bipartisan support in 31 out of the 39 battlegrounds surveyed)
Prohibit stock trading by members of Congress, the President, Vice President, and Supreme Court Justices
Require Supreme Court Justices to abide by the same ethics standards used by all other federal judges

Campaign Finance Reforms:

Pass a new Constitutional amendment to allow Congress to restrict corporate and PAC spending on elections, effectively overturning Citizens United
Provide tax credits for campaign contributions by small donors
Impose stricter disclosure rules on campaign-related spending by corporations, unions and other groups.

"The American people believe the current rules of the political system produce a government that serves special interests and politicians themselves," notes Steven Kull, Director of the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation (PPC). "They agree on major reforms to make elected officials more responsive to the people, and more likely to serve the common good."

One political reform that was rejected by a bipartisan majority in every battleground surveyed was to rescind the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits nonprofits from endorsing or contributing to candidates.

Common Ground in the Battlegrounds?
This survey release is the 12th in the Common Ground in the Battlegrounds? survey series being conducted by the Program for Public Consultation (PPC) in the run-up to the November election in 11 competitive states and 28 competitive U.S. House districts. The results for all individual states and districts can be found HERE.

Surveys on a total of fifteen topics are being released on a rolling basis until the midterm elections, covering over 100 specific policy questions. This release covers two of those topics. The policies – most of which are pending in Congress – were chosen because surveys by PPC and others consistently found majority Republican and Democratic agreement nationally.

With this release, the project has identified 65 policies with bipartisan majority support in every battleground state and district surveyed, and a dozen more with bipartisan support in most battlegrounds.

Previously released surveys: Artificial Intelligence, Housing, Healthcare, Low-Income Assistance, Families and Children, Social Security, Immigration, Abortion and Birth Control, Role of "We the People", Energy and Environment, and Federal Taxes.

Congressional Redistricting
Bipartisan majorities favor requiring that every Congressional district be drawn by a commission of citizens in each state, made up of equal numbers of Republicans, Democrats and independents (Democrats 75 to 96%, Republicans 67 to 92%, overall 69 to 90%). Nationally, 83% of Democrats and 81% of Republicans are in favor, and 81% overall.

Term Limits
Passing a constitutional amendment to set term limits for Congress, of four terms for the House and two terms for the Senate, is favored by 76 to 95% of Democrats, 68 to 92% of Republicans, and 74 to 88% overall. Nationally, 83% of Democrats and 85% of Republicans are in favor, and 82% overall.

Ranked Choice Voting
Using ranked-choice voting in all congressional elections with three or more candidates is favored by 55 to 97% of Democrats and 53 to 85% overall. Among Republicans, 41 to 79% favor it, including majorities in 31 of the 39 battlegrounds surveyed. Nationally, 70% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans are in favor, and 66% overall.

Ranked choice voting was explained as follows, starting with a three-person race as an example: "Voters not only select their first choice but can also select their second choice. Then, if no candidate gets a majority, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who favored the eliminated candidate then have their votes switched to their second choice. The tally is recalculated, and the candidate with a majority of votes wins. If there are more than three candidates, the process is repeated until a candidate gets a majority."

Banning Stock Trading in Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court
Prohibiting high-level officials in the government from trading stocks in individual companies (but still allowing them to trade shares of funds that include stocks in numerous companies) is favored by large bipartisan majorities. This includes prohibitions on:

members of Congress (Democrats 65 to 94%, Republicans 63 to 88%, overall 70 to 84%; Nationally: Democrats 75%, Republicans 78%, overall 76%)
the President, Vice President, and Supreme Court Justices (Democrats 54 to 92%, Republicans 55 to 82%, overall 61 to 81%; Nationally: Democrats 70%, Republicans 74%, overall 71%).

Requiring Supreme Court Justices to Comply with Standard Code of Ethics
Currently, federal judges are legally required to comply with a set of ethical standards, but Supreme Court Justices are not. Requiring that Supreme Court Justices comply with the same ethical standards as other judges is favored by 70 to 95% of Democrats, 67 to 93% of Republicans, and 68 to 90% overall. Nationally, over eight in ten are in favor (Democrats 86%, Republicans 87%, overall 85%).

Overturning "Citizens United"
Passing a new constitutional amendment to allow Congress and state legislatures to restrict or prohibit corporations and PACs from spending money to influence elections – effectively overturning the Citizens United decision – is favored by overwhelming bipartisan majorities (Democrats 80 to 93%, Republicans 73 to 89%, overall 77 to 89%). Nationally, over eight in ten are in favor (Democrats 85%, Republicans 82%, overall 82%).

Encouraging Small Campaign Donors
Encouraging small campaign donors, by making half of campaign contributions by small donors refundable in the form of a tax credit, is favored by 58 to 91% of Democrats, 52 to 76% of Republicans, and 56 to 80% overall. Nationally, a bipartisan majority is in favor (Democrats 72%, Republicans 63%, overall 67%).

Stricter Campaign Finance Disclosure Rules
Imposing stricter disclosure rules on campaign-related spending, for example advertisements about a candidate or controversial public issue, is favored by very large bipartisan majorities.

Require corporations, unions, and other groups, when spending money on campaign-related activities, to immediately report this to their shareholders and members, to the public, and to the Federal Election Commission (Democrats 80 to 95%, Republicans 75 to 94%, overall 78 to 90%). Nationally, this is favored by 85% of both Democrats and Republicans, and 83% overall.
Require the Federal Election Commission to publicly disclose the names of significant donors paying for TV or radio ads in support of candidates or related to controversial public issues (Democrats 76 to 92%, Republicans 65 to 86%, overall 73 to 85%). Nationally, this is favored by 85% of Democrats, 80% of Republicans, and 81% overall.
Require federal contractors to publicly disclose their donations to groups that spend money on campaign-related activities (Democrats 76 to 93%, Republicans 70 to 89%, overall 74 to 86%). Nationally, this is favored by 83% of Democrats, 82% of Republicans, and 81% overall.

Continue Prohibition on Nonprofits Endorsing Candidates
Congressional legislation has been put forward to rescind the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits nonprofits that receive tax-deductible donations, such as churches and universities, from endorsing and providing financial support to political candidates. Large bipartisan majorities support continuing that prohibition (Democrats 69 to 91%, Republicans 63 to 85%, overall 70 to 82%). Nationally, eight in ten say the same (Democrats 80%, Republicans 80%, overall 79%).

MORE INFORMATION

Survey Methodology
The state and district surveys used for this analysis were fielded July 21 - August 17, 2026, to a total of 19,949 adults, including 600-2016 in each of the 11 states, and 499-592 in each of the 28 congressional districts. The response rates were 7.1 to 8.9%. The confidence intervals range from +/- 2.9 to 8.1%, and the maximum weights range from 3.7 to 10.0.

The national survey was fielded February 11-26, 2026, with 2,509 adults. The response rate was 7.6%. The confidence interval is +/- 2.9%, and the maximum weight is 2.5.

Sample was obtained from multiple online opt-in panels, including Cint, Dynata and Prodege. Sample collection and quality control were managed by QuantifyAI under the direction of the Program for Public Consultation. The surveys were offered in both English and Spanish.

The samples were pre-stratified and weighted by age, race, ethnicity, gender, education, household income, marital status, and home ownership to match the general adult population. The national sample was further weighted by Census region. The distribution of partisan affiliation was within expectations, based on voter registration data for non-leaners and/or Cook's Partisan Voting Index for leaners, or weighted to reflect those benchmarks.

About the Common Ground in the Battlegrounds? Survey Series
The Common Ground in the Battlegrounds? project is conducting and releasing a survey series in 11 competitive states and 28 competitive U.S. House districts, being released on a rolling basis through the midterm elections. Surveys will cover 15 topics and include over 100 specific policy questions. The goal of this effort is to determine where there is bipartisan common ground in competitive states and districts across the nation. Additionally, the project seeks to educate the public, policymakers, and candidates about the findings, and provide journalists with independent, nonpartisan research that brings the public into the conversation about public policy.

In addition to PPC, project partners include the Civic Innovation Center at the University of Maryland (CivIC), and Voice of the People (VOP), a national nonpartisan organization seeking to give the public a greater voice in government. None of these entities advocate for policy positions or endorse candidates.

States surveyed: Alaska; Georgia; Iowa; Maine; Michigan; Minnesota; Montana; Nebraska; New Hampshire; North Carolina; Ohio; and Texas.

Congressional Districts surveyed: Arizona's 1st and 6th; Colorado's 8th; Iowa's 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th; Maine's 2nd; Michigan's 4th, 7th, 8th and 10th; Montana's 1st; Nebraska's 2nd; Nevada's 3rd; New Jersey's 7th and 9th; New Mexico's 2nd; New York's 3rd, 4th, 17th and 19th; Oregon's 5th; Pennsylvania's 1st, 7th, 8th and 10th; and Washington's 3rd.

Program for Public Consultation
The Program for Public Consultation (PPC), affiliated with the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, seeks to improve democratic governance by consulting the public and bringing the people's views into the public discourse. It conducts surveys with representative samples on policies proposed by elected officials and shares its findings with government officials, the media, other academics, and the general public.

Civic Innovation Center
The Civic Innovation Center (CivIC) at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy works to strengthen the foundations of civic health. It contributes to important debates about civic education, civic engagement, and needed democratic reforms in the state of Maryland and nationwide, in partnership with other BIG 10 universities. It works to build the connective tissue that brings together students, scholars and practitioners to help elevate the UMD community's contribution to our wider democracy.

Voice of the People
Voice of the People (VOP) is a nonpartisan organization working to re-anchor our democracy in its founding principles by giving 'We the People' a greater and more effective voice in government. It champions innovative methods and technology that enable the American people to play a role in the policymaking process and provide policymakers with a more accurate understanding of the views of their constituents.

Contact: Jonathan Casaverde, [email protected],(786) 469-9422

SOURCE Program for Public Consultation