Democrats in battleground states have a 12-percentage point lead over their Republican counterparts in a generic House ballot, according to a poll released Friday.
The Washington Post-George Mason University Schar School poll found 49 percent of registered voters would support a Democratic candidate, compared to 37 percent who would cast a ballot for a Republican contender. The survey showed 13 percent of respondents were still undecided ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
That margin is wider than the one in the RealClearPolitics’ poll aggregator on Friday, which suggested Democrats on average enjoy a 7-point advantage. Still, the gap between the two parties has narrowed since Democrats were 13 percentage points ahead of Republicans in December, according to RealClearPolitics.
Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent voters in battleground states surveyed for the Washington Post-Schar School poll were also more excited about the 2018 midterm cycle, as 59 percent told researchers the elections were “extremely important.” Only 46 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents gave the same response.
The poll was conducted among 1,302 registered voters online and via phone interviews between June 27 and July 2. Its results have a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
[Also read: Battleground states support more border security funding but not Trump’s wall: Poll]
