New polling data suggests support for bypassing electoral norms remains low among the general public but rises significantly among politically engaged elite voters identified in a recent survey.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A recent survey examining attitudes toward election integrity and political power found stark differences between the general electorate and a subset of politically engaged elites, fueling renewed debate over public trust, democratic norms, and the widening divide between political leadership and average voters.
According to a Just the News report, polling conducted by the Napolitan Institute and RMG Research found that only 7 percent of voters overall said they would support their preferred political party cheating to win an election.
Support for such actions increased substantially, however, among respondents categorized as the “Elite 1%,” a demographic group identified in the survey as disproportionately affluent, politically engaged, highly educated, and largely aligned with progressive political positions.
The survey reported that 35 percent of respondents within that elite category expressed support for cheating to secure electoral victories. Among what the survey classified as “politically active elites,” support for election cheating reportedly rose to 69 percent.
The Napolitan Institute/RMG Research survey described the elite demographic as consisting primarily of Democratic voters, with 73 percent identifying with the Democratic Party, 67 percent between ages 35 and 54, and 47 percent supporting policies similar to those advocated by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Pollster Scott Rasmussen discussed the findings in a USA Today column, arguing the data reflected growing tension between political elites and broader democratic principles.
“These attitudes reveal an elitist revolt against the nation’s founding principles,” Rasmussen wrote. “A growing faction within America’s leadership class increasingly believes it is better suited to rule than the public itself.”
The survey additionally found significant differences between elite respondents and the public on questions involving personal liberty and the role of government.
Among the broader electorate, only 4 percent said the United States has “far too much” individual freedom. That figure rose to 35 percent among the Elite 1% and 58 percent among politically active elites surveyed.
An additional 19 percent of the Elite 1% and 11 percent of politically active elites said the country has “somewhat too much” individual freedom, compared to 12 percent of voters overall.
The report comes amid increasingly heated political rhetoric surrounding elections, redistricting battles, and control of Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm cycle.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries drew criticism earlier this month after comments about confronting the Republican Party and the MAGA movement.
“Either MAGA extremists are gonna break the country or we are gonna break them,” Jeffries said. “We have to beat them electorally and then we have to break their spirit.”
Redistricting disputes have also intensified political tensions in several states.
In Virginia, legal challenges emerged after Democrats pursued congressional district changes that critics argued heavily favored Democratic candidates by dividing suburban Washington, D.C., communities across multiple districts. Opponents characterized the effort as politically engineered to create a congressional map heavily tilted toward Democrats despite narrower statewide election margins.
The Virginia Supreme Court later invalidated the referendum approving the district changes, prompting Democratic lawmakers to accuse Republicans of undermining democracy through the courts.
Republicans have faced similar accusations over redistricting efforts in other states, with both parties continuing to battle over congressional boundaries ahead of the 2026 elections.
The broader debate over political elitism also resurfaced following scrutiny of Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow after CNN reported she deleted thousands of old social media posts containing criticism of Midwestern culture and voters.
Some posts referred to “morons from the other side of the country,” according to the report. McMorrow later defended the comments, saying they reflected ordinary personal posts rather than carefully curated political messaging.
The survey findings and recent political controversies have added to ongoing discussions about voter trust, political polarization, and public perceptions of America’s governing institutions heading into the next election cycle.