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Democrats Remain Ahead in U.S. Election
- The Democratic Party is holding on to the top spot before next month's congressional election in the United States, according to a poll by Harris Interactive. 49 per cent of respondents would support the Democratic contender in their district, while 36 per cent would vote for the Republican candidate.
Support for the Democrats increased by three points since September, while backing for the Republicans went up by one point. Voters in the United States will renew the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate on Nov. 7.
In the November 2004 congressional ballot, the Republican Party elected 232 lawmakers to the United States House of Representatives with 49.2 per cent of the vote, while the Democratic Party secured 202 seats with 46.6 per cent. The Republicans also have a majority in the Senate, with 55 members in the 100-seat upper house.
Earlier this month, Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Ken Mehlman discussed the record of the current administration, saying, "Every year that George Bush has been president, a tax cut has been signed into law. You have the most pro-life president in history. (...) You have an unrelenting moral clarity and follow-through in action in the war on terror that is consistent with what we've seen in our great right-of-centre presidents like Ronald Reagan and his approach to the Cold War. You have, for the first time in a generation, real litigation and lawsuit reform that we haven't had."
Polling Data
If the election for Congress were being held today, would you be voting for the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate?
Oct. 2006 | Sept. 2006 | Aug. 2006 | |
Democrat | 49% | 46% | 47% |
Republican | 36% | 35% | 32% |
Other | 10% | 13% | 13% |
Undecided | 5% | 6% | 8% |
Source: Harris Interactive
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,004 American adults, conducted from Oct. 6 to Oct. 9, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.