New Poll Shows Tight Race To Control House—But Republicans Are More Likely To Vote

According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll published Sunday, Republicans may have a slight edge in enthusiasm, attention and turnout ahead of the November elections.

More than half of registered voters said they would vote for the Republican candidate in their district, while less than half said they would cast a ballot for the Democrat.

80% of Republicans say they have already voted or are certain to do so, compared to 26% of Democrats who say the same.

There is a noticeable attention gap between the two parties, with 42% of Republican-leaving voters saying they have been following the election closely, compared to 37% of Democratic- leaning voters.

More than 90 percent of both Republicans and Democrats say they will vote for their party's candidate, while likely independent voters prefer Democrats, according to the survey.

A random national sample of 1,005 adults from October 30 to November 2 were surveyed by the Washington Post and ABC News.

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There are five. Republicans need to pick up net seats to take control of the house.

Key Background

The Democrats are expected to lose control of the House on Tuesday and will need to win in several key districts to keep the chamber. More seats currently held by Democrats are considered to be toss ups, so the Democratic Party is going into the elections with a big disadvantage. An analysis in October found that Democratic candidates spent more money on ads than Republicans.

Tangent

Republicans need to flip just one Senate seat to take control of the upper chamber, but projections for the Senate are less certain than for the House, as key races in states like Pennsylvania and Georgia are tossups. The Republicans have a 45% chance of taking the Senate, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Democrats view the ten races as critical in their bid to retain control of the House.

Democrats are spending two to one to hold the house.

The battle for control of the house of representatives is funded by billionaires.