WASHINGTON — Voters are significantly more interested in the Nov. 6 elections than the last midterm elections, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday.
In a sign of increased interest in the outcome, 77 percent of registered voters say they are certain to vote, compared with 65 percent who said the same in a Post-ABC poll taken in October 2014.
The survey also shows a Democratic advantage in several areas.
Those include:
- Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say voting this year is much more important than in past midterm elections, 77 percent compared to 63 percent.
- More voters say they will vote for the Democratic candidate in their congressional district (53 percent) than say they will vote for the Republican (42 percent).
- More voters trust Democrats to do a better job handling major problems facing the nation (45 percent) than trust Republicans (37 percent).
- Voters also trust Democrats more to handle specific issues including Supreme Court appointments, immigration, taxes, health care, the way things are working in Washington, and equal treatment of men and women. Of the six issues included in the survey, Republicans have the edge only on the economy.
Voters’ approval of President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy has risen to 49 percent, the first time the Post-ABC News poll has found more approval than disapproval of the administration’s economic performance. Trump’s overall approval rating has also risen 5 percentage points since August to 41 percent.
And the share of voters who want Congress to be controlled by Democrats to provide a check on Trump has fallen from 60 percent in August to 54 percent this month.
But Democrats still maintain a clear advantage three weeks before the election.
Independent experts expect the party to at least pick up seats in the House, and probably take control of that chamber.
Republicans, however, remain favored to retain the Senate despite the challenging environment they face. That’s because Democrats are defending most of the Senate seats on the ballot, and the most competitive races are in states Trump won in 2016.
“What we’ve said from the beginning is this is a very tough political map for Senate Democrats, probably the toughest we’ve seen in 60 years,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said on CBS’ "Face the Nation" Sunday.
The confirmation battle over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh made it harder for Democrats like North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp – who opposed Kavanaugh – and West Virginia’s Joe Manchin – the only Democrat to support Kavanaugh – to focus on issues with broad appeal such as health care. Instead, the nomination made the election a more partisan fight.
Although Supreme Court nominations have been more of a motivating factor for Republicans than Democrats in past elections, the new poll found appointments to the high court is an important election issue for 77 percent of Democrats compared with 72 percent of Republicans.
But the survey was conducted nationally, not in the Republican states where Democrats need crossover support to win.
