Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Republican congressional candidates rebounded this week and pulled ahead again of Democrats in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot. The last time the GOP held a lead was in early May.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 41% would vote for their district's Republican congressional candidate while 39% would choose the Democratic candidate.
Support for the GOP rose two points over the past week, while support for Democrats dropped two points. This is only the fourth time the GOP has held a lead in over two years.
The seesaw nature and closeness of these findings appear to reflect the public's generally low opinion of most members of Congress and their accomplishments. Just 18% of U.S. voters say Congress is doing a good or excellent job.
In May, 23% felt that way, which was the highest support for Congress in two years.
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Democratic support on the congressional ballot has ranged from a low of 38% to a high of 50% in the past 12 months. In that same time period, Republicans have been preferred by 34% to 41% of voters nationwide. Democrats held a six- or seven-point lead over the GOP for the first several weeks of 2009. That began to slip in early February, and since mid-April, the parties have been roughly even.
After favoring Democrats slightly more last week, men again prefer the GOP by a 45% to 35% margin. Women still favor Democrats slightly more, 42% to 38%.
Voters not affiliated with either party favor the GOP 37% to 23%, showing little change since last week.
