Stunning number of Republicans are quitting amid Trump's cratering polls: analysis

More congressional Republicans have quit, declined to seek reelection, or jumped to different races than in any year since President Donald Trump's last midterm catastrophe, according to a new analysis, and the president's historic approval rating collapse may explain why.

At least 39 GOP lawmakers have headed for the exits, Slate's Ian Prasad Philbrick reported Friday, a number that rivals the 2018 Republican exodus when Trump's first-term unpopularity helped Democrats seize the House in a wave election.

The flight comes as Trump's approval rating has cratered below 40 percent for the first time in his second term, driven largely by the Iran war and its punishing economic fallout. Multiple polling averages now show surveys from CNN, YouGov, the Associated Press and Quinnipiac University putting his support in the 30s.

Independent, nonwhite and younger voters who broke for Trump in 2024 have since soured on him. Even Republicans are giving him poor marks on the economy, a marquee issue that helped propel him back to the White House.

Trump is now underwater in more than half the states he won in 2024, including all seven swing states he regularly brags about having swept.

Democrats currently lead the generic congressional ballot by around 6 points, and have flipped seats in special elections throughout the year.

As Philbrick noted dryly: "Sometimes those who can't raise their voices vote with their feet instead."