During a midterm year, dozens of firms release surveys. These ten regularly publish methodology notes and have track records worth comparing. None is perfect; all are more useful when read alongside each other.

Nonprofit and academic

  • Pew Research Center, Focuses on attitudes and demographics more than horse-race calls, valuable for understanding why voters lean a certain way.
  • Monmouth University Polling Institute, Strong on New Jersey and national mood; transparent crosstabs.
  • Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, Partners with NPR and PBS; careful state polls in the Northeast.
  • Quinnipiac University, Frequent state-level releases in competitive regions.

Media partnerships

  • ABC News / Washington Post, National surveys with detailed methodology appendices.
  • NBC News / Wall Street Journal, Long-running bipartisan team; closely watched generic ballot.
  • CNN / SSRS, SSRS handles fieldwork; useful for battleground subsamples.

Commercial and global

  • Gallup, Less frequent horse-race polling now, but still publishes approval and economic confidence indicators that shape midterm environments.
  • Ipsos, Reuters/Ipsos national tracking; large samples, online methodology.
  • YouGov, Panel-based; Economist/YouGov tracking is a staple for analysts.

How to use the list

Look up each firm's sample type (phone, online, mixed), likely-voter screen, and dates in the field. Aggregators like FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics weight polls differently, understanding the underlying surveys matters more than any single headline margin.