Nearly half of voters hope for Dems to win majority in 2018: poll

Nearly half of American voters — 48 percent — would like to see Democrats win control of the House in 2018, according to a Quinnipiac University poll out Wednesday.

That compares to 40 percent of respondents who said they want Republicans to maintain power in the chamber, the poll found. 

Democrats also take the lead among independents, 48 percent of whom said they want control of the House to flip in the midterm elections, according to the poll. Thirty-six percent are hoping for Republicans to maintain control. 

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Likewise, 48 percent of voters overall said that they hope Democrats take control of the Senate, according to the Quinnipiac poll, though the margin was slightly smaller. Forty-two percent of respondents voiced support for Republican control of the Senate.

The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,193 voters nationwide from April 20-24. Its margin of error is 3.4 percentage points.

The poll’s findings come as Democrats, energized by President Trump’s low approval ratings, work to seize control of Congress in the November elections. 

The party has also been encouraged by recent Democratic victories in key special elections. In March, for example, Democrat Conor Lamb slid ahead of Republican Rick Saccone to win a House seat previously held by former Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.). 

And in deep-red Alabama, Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) beat out former state Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore in a special Senate race to give Democrats their first statewide victory there in decades. 

Republican Debbie Lesko beat out Democrat Hiral Tipirneni in Arizona’s special House election Tuesday night. But that race, in a district Trump won by 21 points in 2016, was closer than expected.