Democrats, Republicans evenly split going into midterm elections: poll
By Mark Moore | NYPost
September 18, 2022 10:53am Updated
The battle over which political party will control Congress after November’s midterm elections has become a tossup, as Democrats have narrowed the gap in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, according to a poll released Sunday.
American registered voters are evenly split at 46% over which party they want to be in charge after the midterms, erasing a two percentage points edge Republicans had over Democrats in August, an NBC News poll found.
Democrats have an advantage over their Republican rivals among black voters (77%-8%), voters aged 18-34 (57%-33%), whites with college degrees (58%-38%), women (53%-40%) and Latinos (46%-42%), the poll shows.
In contrast, Republicans are drawing support from men (53%-39%), whites (54%-41%), independents (43%-37%) and whites without college degrees (64%-31%).
But Republicans hold an edge over Democrats in enthusiasm.
Nearly seven in 10 of GOP voters – 69% – express a high level of interest in the election, compared with 66% of Democrats.
Whether Democrats retain or lose control of the House and Senate may come down to the issues.
The poll shows that among Republicans, 56% pick border security, 47% choose the economy, 46% say immigration and 45% select crime as their top issues going into the elections.
Among Democrats, abortion (47%), health care (44%) and protecting democracy and education (both 40%) are their main issues.
“There is a campaign about the economy, cost of living, crime, and border security, and Republicans are winning this campaign,” Republican pollster Bill McInturff told NBC News. “But there is a second campaign on abortion, democracy, and climate change, and Democrats are winning that campaign.”
The survey also found that the number of registered voters approving of President Biden’s job performance rose 3 percentage points in the last month to 45% – his highest approval rating since last October.
Another 52% of registered voters disapprove of Biden.
The president receives his strongest support from women (52%), Latinos (48%), and voters 18-34 (48%).
But he’s underwater when it comes to independents (36% approve), suburban voters (43%) and seniors (47%).
At the same time, former President Donald Trump has seen his favorability ratings fall since he left the White House.
The poll found that 34% have a positive view of Trump, versus the 54% who see him negatively.
His highest positive rating – 38% – was recorded in August and October of last year.
The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters between Sept. 9 – 13.
It has a plus/minus 3.1 percentage points margin of error.
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