Republicans currently hold the lead on the generic congressional ballot test for the first time in nearly a decade.
According to a new NPR/Marist poll, Republicans are well-positioned to retake both chambers of Congress in the 2022 midterms as they enjoy a healthy lead on the generic congressional ballot for the first time since 2014.
A press release from Marist said, “With the 2022 Congressional Midterm Elections a little more than six months away, U.S. registered voters give Republicans (47%) the advantage over the Democratic candidates (44%) nationally.”
The press release indicated the plurality of Americans believe the Republican Party is best fit to address the issues the country is currently facing.
“On the economy, controlling inflation, crime, national security, and gun policy, pluralities of Americans perceive the Republican Party to be the party who would be better able to handle these issues. Americans express these views as President Joe Biden’s job approval rating remains upside down, and his ratings on the economy and the crisis in Ukraine take on water.”
Polling cited by Marist indicated that registered independents favor substantially favor Republicans for the primary race, as well.
The Marist press release said, “Independents break 45% for the Republican candidate and 38% for the Democratic candidate on the generic congressional ballot. A notable 10% are unsure.”
Data gathered in the polling process indicates that notable pluralities believe Republicans can better handle issues affecting the everyday person’s quality of life such as national security (43%), the economy (42%), controlling inflation (41%), gun policy (41%), and crime (39%).
The data indicated that the Democratic Party is perceived to have a tighter grip on handling social issues such as LGBTQ rights (48%), climate change (45%), and abortion (41%).
There appears to be little consensus, however, about which of the major parties could better handle immigration. Republicans were favored by 37% of respondents to address the issue while Democrats were favored by 34%.
According to the poll, 57% of adults registered to vote disapprove of how President Joe Biden “is handling the economy.” When asked which party they “think would do a better job” in managing the economy, respondents favored the Republican Party (42%) over the Democratic Party (26%).
Currently, the GOP has an 85% chance of retaking the House of Representatives and a 73% chance of retaking the U.S. Senate in the 2022 midterm elections.