US mid-term polls: Democrats have advantage just ahead of election, says survey

Washington, Nov 6: The Democratic Party continued to have a double-digit lead over the Republican Party in a generic congressional polling among the likely voters, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, a market and survey research firm.

The Democrats' 55 per cent to 42 per cent advantage in the new poll reflects the sizeable lead they had in September and early October. The party had a wider edge, according to the CNN's final poll held before the 2006 mid-term elections and similar to the Republicans' 10-point advantage just ahead of the 2010 mid-term elections.

The Democratic Party's advantage is due to the huge gap in terms of gender (62 per cent women prefer the Democrats as against 35 per cent who back Republicans), political independents (53 per cent independents prefer Democrats while 39 per cent prefer Republicans) as well as the black and Latino voters (88 per cent of black voters and 66 per cent Latino voters support the Democrats), according to the CNN. Among the men, however, both parties are closely placed with 49 per cent backing the Republicans and 48 per cent favouring the Democrats.

The approval rating of President Donald Trump in the poll stands at 39 per cent while 55 per cent disapproves of him. It is worse than the scenario in October when 41 per cent approved of his performance while 52 per cent did not. The rating is the worst for any president approaching his first mid-term election in polling since Dwight D Eisenhower.