2010 Congressional election remains close, 2012 split evenly

Washington, May 13 (ANI): If a Congressional election were held today in the United States, 42 percent of voters would back the Republican candidate in their district, while 40 percent would support the Democrat, according to the latest Fox News poll.

According to the poll, most Republicans (86 percent) back their party's candidate and most Democrats (80 percent) back theirs, and independents are divided.

By 37-31 percent independent voters are somewhat more likely to back the Republican candidate, while 20 percent are undecided.

A similar split is seen when the question is about voting in the 2012 presidential election: 41 percent would back Barack Obama, and 41 percent the Republican Party's candidate.

In one hypothetical three-way race with New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg as a third-party candidate, President Obama (42 percent) has a clear advantage over both the unnamed Republican candidate (29 percent) and Bloomberg (10 percent).

In a two-way race, independents are more likely to back the Republican nominee (38 percent) over Obama (28 percent).

In the three-way vote, Obama keeps almost all of his independent support (25 percent), while the Republican candidate (18 percent) loses a significant amount of support to Bloomberg (19 percent).

Either way, for many independents it's too soon to say how they will vote in 2012.

Overall, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (42 percent favorable) has the highest favorable rating of the potential 2012 Republican candidates in the poll.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (40 percent favorable) and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (37 percent favorable) follow him closely.

Among only Republicans, Palin (65 percent favorable) and Huckabee (64 percent favorable) lead the field - topping Romney (59 percent favorable) and Gingrich (51 percent).

By comparison, President Obama has a 53 percent favorable rating overall, and a 91 percent favorable among Democrats.

Twenty-eight percent of voters have a positive view of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as do 49 percent of Democrats.

Former First Lady Laura Bush receives a 68 percent favorable rating, which is the highest positive rating of the individuals tested on the poll.

The national telephone poll was conducted for Fox News by Opinion Dynamics Corp. among 900 registered voters from May 4 to May 5. For the total sample, the poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. (ANI)