Democrats lead Republicans by 10 points in midterm survey

Poll result

Democrats hold a 10-percentage-point lead over Republicans on the congressional generic ballot less than two weeks before the 2026 midterm elections. The CNN/SSRS survey found that 49 percent of respondents selected the Democratic Party’s candidate, while 39 percent selected the Republican Party’s candidate.

The 10-point figure comes from subtracting the Republican share from the Democratic share. The question asked which party’s candidate respondents would support in their own congressional district, making the result a measure of current party preference across those surveyed. Together, the two reported party shares total 88 percent, leaving 12 percentage points outside those two reported choices.

How to read it

The survey question does not name individual candidates or compare specific district contests. It records an intended choice between the parties’ candidates at the time respondents answered, rather than votes already cast. That distinction matters because the figures describe survey responses, not an election result.

The finding also uses percentage points: Democrats registered 49 percent and Republicans 39 percent, a gap of 10 points. It should not be read as a 10 percent share for either party.

What comes next

The poll arrives during the final two weeks before the midterms. Later surveys may ask the same question and show whether respondents’ stated preferences change as voting nears. The decisive figures will be district-level vote totals after ballots are counted; this party-choice question does not assign support to any named candidate or district.