Republicans lead Democrats on generic ballots for the House and Senate about a year before the midterm elections, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday.
The poll found a plurality of voters said that if the election were today, they would want the Republican Party to win control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Forty-six percent said they would like to see Republicans win the House, compared to 38% who said they’d prefer Democrats. A slightly smaller margin, 46% to 40%, said they want Republicans to win control of the Senate. A plurality of independent voters said they would like to see Republicans win both chambers next year.
Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy called the results “an ominous double whammy for the Democrats with midterms less than a year out.”
“The Senate and the House will be up for grabs and voters want the GOP to win the jump ball,” Malloy said in a statement.
But the poll wasn’t all good news for Republicans, as it also found that if a candidate for the House or Senate strongly embraces former President Donald Trump and his ideas, 42% would be less likely to vote for that candidate. Comparatively, only 29% would be more likely to vote for that candidate.
Most Republican voters (61%) said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who strongly embraces Trump.
Even though voters want the GOP to win control of Congress next year, congressional Republicans currently have a lower approval rating than Democrats at 25% and 31%, respectively.
President Joe Biden did not fare much better than Congress in the poll, with just a 36% job approval rating, his lowest performance yet in a Quinnipiac University national poll. He also received a majority disapproval rating on four key issues: his coronavirus response, the economy, foreign policy, and climate change. On the economy, 68% said rising inflation has caused them to change their spending habits.
Voters were evenly split on whether they feel Biden cares about the average person, and just 37% said he has good leadership skills.
A majority of voters, 57% to 37%, support the recent bipartisan infrastructure bill recently signed by Biden. And a similar majority, 58% to 38%, support the sweeping social spending bill still under negotiation among congressional Democrats.
“Is the Biden administration’s signature legislation enough to start righting the ship?” Malloy said. “$3 trillion to fortify the country’s infrastructure backbone and shore up the future of American families through social programs still gets hearty support from Americans. But from the character issues to the broad swath of national and international concerns, that ship continues to take on water.”
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House Democrats are seeking a vote on the spending bill this week. The legislation has been the subject of a monthslong negotiation between centrists and progressives.
