New Poll Gives Democrats a Staggering 18 Point Lead over Republicans in Next Year’s Elections

With the 2018 midterms looming just over the horizon, Democrats received some welcome news from a recent CNN poll: 56 percent of Americans say they would prefer their representative in Congress to be a Democrat, compared to 38 percent who say the same about Republicans. A similar gap existed among independent voters, which leaned 51 to 35 percent Democrat. This isn’t the only poll indicating that a Democratic tsunami is on its way.

Live interview generic ballot polls in December
CNN D+18
Quinnipiac D+15
Monmouth D+15
Marist D+13
POS® D+12
NBC/WSJ D+11

— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) December 20, 2017

CNN’s poll was taken between Dec. 14-17, surveyed over 1,000 adults, and showed multiple different factors that support a Democratic swing in 2018.

CNN has conducted similar polls several times in years past, and 56 to 38 percent is by far their widest margin. CNN notes that these numbers are similar to 2005, which presaged a Democratic takeover of both the House and the Senate in 2006. On top of that, more registered Democrats say they are enthusiastic about voting in 2018 (49 percent) than do Republicans (just 32 percent).

This poll was conducted before the passage of the GOP’s big tax reform bill, an intensely unpopular bill that the GOP somehow thinks will boost their popularity and electoral chances come 2018. Just 34 percent of those surveyed said they have a favorable view of the Republican party, and a whopping 68 percent said they are angry at how the country is run.

CNN does not mention that the Democrats are still going to be on the defensive in 2018, as more Democrat-controlled seats in the Senate are up for grabs in the midterms than Republican seats. The House is a free-for-all, of course, with Democrats needing a gain of just 24 seats to regain control—a tally that is certainly within reach given these favorability numbers. With the victory of Doug Jones over Roy Moore in Alabama, the Republicans have just a one-seat advantage in the Senate, and if these astounding numbers hold, we will likely see more Democratic gains across the board next year.