If elections for Congress were held today, 45 percent of likely voters would pick the Democratic candidate, while 37 percent would vote for the Republican, according to a Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey released on Monday.
Only 5 percent would vote for some other candidate, while another 12 percent are not sure of their choice, according to the poll.
Other results from the survey include:
- Among both Democrats and Republicans, 78 percent would vote for the candidate from their own party.
- Among independents, 44 percent said they would vote for a Democratic candidate, while only 22 percent said they would choose a Republican.
- Among black voters, 63 percent would vote for the Democratic candidate, while only 19 percent would pick a Republican.
- Among other minorities, 43 percent would pick a Democrat, while 33 percent would vote Republican.
- Among white voters, the Democrats hold a slim 44 percent to 43 percent advantage.
- Republicans have the advantage among those who are 65 years or older, with 46 percent choosing the GOP candidate and only 42 percent saying they would vote for a Democrat.
- Fifty percent of voters agree it is better for the nation when different parties control the House and Senate.
- Thirteen percent of all voters say they have changed their political party affiliation or became an independent in the past year and a half.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on January 24-25. The margin of sampling error is 3 percentage points, with a 95 percent level of confidence.