Poll: Democrats slip to 5-point lead on 2020 generic congressional ballot

Democrats’ lead in the generic 2020 congressional ballot has slipped to 5 points, according to a new Economist–YouGov weekly tracking poll.

Democrats hold a 46 percent to 41 percent advantage over Republicans in the survey released Wednesday, while another 10 percent of registered voters say they are unsure which candidate they would vote for if the 2020 race was held today.

{mosads}The poll marks a 6-point drop from last week’s tracking poll in which Democrats had a 48-37 lead over the GOP.

Democrats ran up the score in traditionally supportive demographics in Wednesday’s survey, holding a 53 percent to 34 percent advantage among voters aged 18 to 29, a 72-point lead among African American voters and a 20-point edge among Hispanic voters. Republicans, meanwhile, hold a 16-point lead among voters aged 65 years and older and are up 12 points among white voters. 

However, in a possible warning sign for Democrats, 39 percent of independent voters said they would back the GOP, while 33 percent said they would go for the Democratic candidate in their congressional district. Another 22 percent said they were unsure.

Democrats, who tend to perform better in presidential election years, are widely expected to keep the House in 2020, though they face an uphill battle in overcoming the GOP’s 53-47 majority of the Senate.

The Economist-YouGov weekly poll surveyed 1,069 registered voters from Sept. 1-3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.