Democrats enjoy a 10-point advantage on the Generic Congressional Ballot early in the 2006 campaign season. A Rasmussen Reports national opinion survey of 1,000 Likely Voters found that 46% would vote for the Democrat in their district if the election were held today. Just 36% would vote for the Republican (see crosstabs).

The survey also asked about a hypothetical match-up between candidates with opposing views on the immigration debate--"One candidate favors building a barrier along the Mexican border and forcing illegal aliens to leave the United States. The other candidate favors expanding the ways that foreign workers can legally get jobs in the United States."

Forty-nine percent (49%) of voters prefer the candidate who favors more enforcement while 40% opt for the candidate who wants to expand legal opportunities for foreign workers. Among those who consider immigration a very important issue in this year's election, the pro-enforcement candidate is preferred by a 67% to 23% margin.

These results are similar to those from another national survey conducted earlier in April. Results are not precisely comparable because the current survey is of Likely Voters while the earlier survey was of National Adults.

Rasmussen Reports will be running the same survey on Monday and Tuesday, May 1 and 2, to measure any changes following the protests planned by immigrant rights advocates on May 1. Currently, just 24% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the protesters while 52% have an unfavorable opinion.

All surveys on the immigration topic highlight the fact that there is division within the Republican and Democratic parties on this issue as opposed to division between the parties. This survey is no different.

Among those who would vote for the Democrat on the Generic Ballot, 38% would vote for the pro-enforcement candidate on the immigration question. Fifty-four percent (54%) chose the other candidate.

As for those who would vote for the Republican on the Generic Ballot, 61% prefer the pro-enforcement candidate while 28% disagree.

Another recent survey found Democrats with a 12 percentage point lead on a generic 2008 Presidential ballot. However, a third party immigration enforcement candidate could shake up the race.

Crosstabs available for Premium Members.