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Your DFP Wrapped
Ah, 2025. We hit some of the highest highs (Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl, the car chase in One Battle After Another, and Beyoncé’s first AOTY). But we also were forced to endure the lowest lows (Sydney Sweeney ads, Katy Perry in space, and the Luka trade).
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for sticking through our corny jokes, pop culture references, ridiculous puns, and subject lines that only sometimes missed the mark. We have a lot cooking up for 2026, and if you’ve found our newsletter funny, useful, or even annoying — we’d love a holiday contribution!
To cap it off, we’re taking a look back at some of our top-read polls of the year. Here’s to leaving 2025 in the dust.
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Here are some of the top highlights from DFP this year:
The Fairytale of New York
In March of this year, three months before the New York City mayoral primary, we found that Andrew Cuomo led Zohran Mamdani by 24 points in the first round of voting and by a whopping 50 points in the final round. We apologize for any anxiety attacks we may have caused at that time.
So, how did Mamdani come back from such a wide deficit? His victory wasn’t some kind of Miracle on 34th St. (although the Macy’s midtown district did go Zo). Mamdani’s campaign was laser-focused on lowering costs by proposing a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments (78% support), subsidies for free buses (72% support), and municipal grocery stores (66% support) to bring down the cost of groceries.
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The last poll we released a few weeks before the primary was the first to capture the Mamdanimentum, finding Mamdani nearly closing the gap against Cuomo. And the rest is history! We’ll be here throughout 2026 to track and measure the transformation of New York City into a Millennial Socialist Utopia (kidding… unless??).
Welcome to another edition of Thunderdome!
John Cena may have just retired, but the real heavyweight championship is shaping up to take place in New York in 2028.
In our poll heard ‘round the Northeast Corridor, we found that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez leads Chuck Schumer by a 19-point margin in a hypothetical 2028 Senate primary. She has a 16-point lead among Black voters, a 28-point lead among Latino voters, and a 50-point lead with voters under 45 — leading with nearly every single demographic group we tested.
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This year, we’ve consistently found that voters think that Democratic leadership isn’t doing enough to fight back against Trump. And unless Schumer or Jeffries plan to challenge Trump to a match at UFC White House, we’re not too sure that perception is going to change anytime soon.
Trump’s Derangement Syndrome
This was also the year that we all saw way, way too many close-up photos of the Trump team — from the horrific Vanity Fair photos published this week to all the times we zoomed in on Trump’s makeup-covered hand. Does no one in the entire White House know how to shade match?
It’s no surprise that after all the insane ramblings, cabinet meeting naps, and weird bruises, voters started to worry just a bit more about the health of the oldest person ever to be elected president.
In July, we found that voters were split, 49% to 48%, over whether Trump is too old to be president. That’s a 10-point jump from July 2024, when 39% of voters thought Trump was too old to be president — and a 12-point jump among Independents.
Again. We seriously have to ask. Does anyone know what the hell is going on with Trump’s hand? Because it’s a little embarrassing when world leaders are getting foundation shade “Sunset Orange” all over their suit cuffs. Just saying.
Trump is for he/himself
One of the Republican Party’s most horrifying traditions has become obsessing over transgender people whenever election season comes around. And yet, despite spending $30 million on anti-trans attack ads in the Virginia gubernatorial race this year, the GOP lost that race by double digits.
But even if anti-trans rhetoric doesn’t resonate with most voters, we know it has a real impact on transgender people and their loved ones. When asked how they feel about recent anti-LGBTQ+ politics and rhetoric, around half of trans adults say they are angry (55%), anxious (53%), depressed (49%), and stressed (48%). And a majority of trans adults (52%) say they have considered moving out of their community or state as a result of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
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The reality is that Americans are very divided on issues impacting the transgender community, but they also largely believe that families, doctors, and school districts should be the ones making decisions, not the government. And those who know a trans person are significantly more supportive of policies to protect their rights than those who do not.
In the new year, let’s recommit to amplifying trans voices and refuse to give up in this fight for human rights. When we actually fight back, we can win.
“Evil and disgusting” - Sabrina Carpenter, 2025
The holiday season can be a difficult time for many. And thanks to our president’s inhumane policy of mass deportation, hundreds of thousands of families and communities all across the country are separated from loved ones.
Since January, we’ve released several polls that reveal just how unpopular Trump’s cruel immigration policies truly are. From deporting immigrants without due process, to sending lawful immigrants to foreign prisons, to conducting ICE raids at sensitive locations, voters are opposed to Trump ripping people away from their families and communities.
In 2026, we’ll need everyone to stand together in opposition to continued mass deportation — and to call out how Trump has seriously overstepped on his immigration agenda of cruelty and violence.
Support Our Work
Does this newsletter put a smile on your face each week? Do you love seeing polling that highlights the popularity of progressive policies? Are you curious to learn more about how we can break through the noise and reach the voters who decide elections?
If so, can you commit to making a monthly donation to DFP in the new year?
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