Democrats gain ground on generic congressional ballot: poll

Democrats have gained ground against Republicans ahead of the midterm elections, with a new poll showing Democrats holding a 4 percentage point lead on a generic congressional ballot.

The USA Today-Suffolk University poll shows that 44 percent of respondents would vote for the Democratic candidate if the election for Congress were held today, compared to 40 percent who said they would back the Republican.

Roughly 16 percent said they were undecided.

The polling indicates movement for Democrats since last month, when voters were split 40 percent for each party, respectively, when asked the same question.

The survey released on Thursday also found that Americans are dissatisfied with how Republicans and Democrats represent the views of their voters. 

Respondents were asked if the two political parties did a good job of representing the political views of Americans or if they believed multiple parties or a third party were necessary.

While about 25 percent said the two major parties were good enough, about 34 percent said multiple parties were necessary and another 26 percent said a third party was necessary.

While this latest poll shows that Democrats maintain a slight edge over Republicans in a generic congressional race, the party still faces headwinds in the midterms, including President Biden’s lagging approval rating, high inflation and general sentiment about conditions in the U.S.

The new poll found that 76 percent of respondents believe the country is on the wrong track compared to 15 percent who said things were headed in the right direction. 

The USA Today-Suffolk University Poll was conducted from July 22 to July 25 with 1,000 voters surveyed. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points.