Polls

Democrats enjoy a double-digit lead ahead of midterm elections, NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll finds

Key Points
  • Democrats are still enjoying a double-digit lead, according to a March NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
  • Independents are also leaning blue when it comes to their Congressional preference.
  • It could be a strong signal for the Democrats, with one pollster calling it a "flashing red light" for the GOP.
Donald Trump
Mike Theiler | Reuters

Democrats have a 10-point lead over Republicans when it comes to voter preferences for which party should control Congress, according to the results of the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, in spite of President Donald Trump's own numbers inching higher.

Fifty percent of registered voters said they'd prefer a Democrat-controlled Congress in the latest survey, while forty percent picked Republican. Democrats also enjoyed a 12-point lead over Republicans among independent voters.

The same poll found that Trump's approval rating has inched higher at 43 percent among all Americans, up four points from January.

Fifty-three percent of adults say they disapprove of the president's job, down from 57 percent two months ago.

It could be a signal of a strong performance for the Democrats, say the experts, although the change from two months ago is within the poll's margin of error. The Democrats' have had the wind at their backs recently, having won two closely watched special elections: Last week's Congressional election in Pennsylvania, and last year's vote for the Alabama Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions.

"Trumpism may well help Donald Trump in his 2020 election, but the buck stops there — which is a flashing red light for Republicans in 2017 or 2018," Democratic pollster Fred Yang, who conducted the poll with GOP pollster Bill McInturff, told NBC News.

The full story can be found on NBC's website.