Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 42%, Democrats 39%
Republicans now hold a three-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending May 1, 2011. This is up one point from last week which marked the narrowest gap between the parties since October 2009.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters nationwide say they would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate, while 39% would choose the Democrat instead. Support for the Democrat is down one point from last week.
The GOP has been consistently ahead on the Generic Ballot since June 2009, leading by as much as 12 points and as little as two. The week before Election Day last November, support for Republicans peaked at 51%, the highest level of support either party has enjoyed in the last two years, but GOP support tapered off after that. Democrats enjoyed a seven-point lead on the Generic Ballot when Barack Obama took office as president in late January 2009, but their support has generally remained in the mid- to upper 30s since June of that year.
Republicans lead by 12 points among men but trail by five among women. The GOP holds a narrow three-point lead among voters not affiliated with either of the major political parties.
Results for this survey are compiled on a full-week basis, and crosstabs for full-week results and Generic Ballot trends are available for Platinum Members only.
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