Democrats lead GOP on 2020 generic congressional ballot in two new polls

Democrats outpace Republicans in the 2020 generic ballot in two recent polls as the party seeks to build on gains it made in the House in last year’s midterm cycle.

Democrats hold a 48 percent to 39 percent advantage among registered voters over Republicans in an Economist-YouGov poll released Wednesday and a 45 percent to 35 percent lead in a Morning Consult-Politico survey published Tuesday.

{mosads}Democrats’ leads in the polls are buoyed by strong showings among traditionally Republican constituencies.

Male registered voters said they would back the Democratic candidate in their congressional race by a 44 percent to 43 percent margin in the Economist/YouGov poll and 42 percent to 39 percent in the Morning Consult-Politico survey. The parties are tied with voters aged 65 and older in the Economist-YouGov poll, and Democrats only trail Republicans by 3 percentage points among those voters in the Morning Consult-Politico survey.

Democrats are hoping that high party enthusiasm and a presidential year turnout in 2020 could help expand their House majority, which was won with a 40-seat wave in 2018, and try to chip into or erase Republicans’ 53-47 majority in the Senate.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) unveiled in January a list of 33 Republican-held or open congressional seats that it aims to target in 2020, with a strong emphasis on seats in suburban districts and Texas.

“2018 was just the tip of the iceberg for Democrats,” Rep. Cheri Bustos (Ill.), who chairs the DCCC, said in January, adding that “we have a clear path to expanding” the Democratic majority.

The Economist-YouGov poll surveyed 1,265 registered voters from June 30-July 2 and has a margin of error of 2.8 percent. The Morning Consult-Politico survey polled 1,472 registered voters from June 29-July 1 and has a margin of error of 3 percent.