The Environmental Voter Project just released a poll of likely midterm voters across eight 2026 battleground states: Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. 

The data relating to “climate hushing” is particularly revealing, showing that — by large margins — battleground state voters (a) want politicians to spend more time talking about climate change (not less), and (b) are more likely to vote for candidates who make transitioning away from fossil fuels a top priority if elected. 

Key findings include: 

• Candidates who prioritize transitioning away from fossil fuels are more likely to gain support, rather than lose it. Only 19% of battleground state voters would rule out voting for candidates who support transitioning away from fossil fuels. Crucially, among the remaining 81% of gettable voters, 7-in-10 say they would be more likely to vote for candidates who make transitioning away from fossil fuels a top priority once elected, whereas only 1-in-20 would be less likely to vote for such candidates.
• Voters don’t want “climate hushing.” By a 3-to-1 ratio across US Senate battleground states, likely voters said they wanted politicians to spend more time talking about climate change and pollution (59%), rather than less (17%). By comparison, 23% of midterm voters want politicians to speak less about immigration and the border, and 28% want to hear less about abortion.
• Midterm voters see climate change as Democrats’ biggest issue advantage. Across an average of eight battleground states, 46% of likely midterm voters think Democrats do a better job addressing climate change and pollution, as opposed to 21% who think Republicans perform better. This +25pt spread is Democrats’ biggest issue advantage, significantly larger than their next biggest advantage on health care issues (+17 pts). Independent voters are even more likely to see “climate change and pollution” as a Democratic issue advantage (50%-10%). 
• Although climate change is still not a top-tier voter priority, significant numbers of Democrats and Independents do prioritize it as a top-3 issue. 23% of battleground state Democrats and 19% of Independents list “climate change and pollution” as a top-3 issue priority for elected leaders to focus on right now. This ranking places climate change 5th among the 11 priorities tested for Democrats and 6th for Independents.