DEMOCRATS LEAD IN HOUSE PREFERENCES

WASHINGTON — Heading into the critical US midterm elections, the Democrats have retained their advantage in the battle for the House of Representatives, but Republicans could be buoyed by increasingly positive assessments of the economy, according to a new poll. The Washington Post-ABC

News national poll released on Saturday ahead of the elections slated for November 6, found that registered voters preferred Democratic candidates for the House over Republican candidates by 50 per cent to 43 per cent.

This marked a slight decline from last month, when Democrats led on the generic congressional ballot by 11 points, and a bigger drop from August, when they enjoyed a 14-point advantage. Democrats also have a 51to44 per cent advantage among likely voters, the poll said.

However, there was no way to translate the national numbers into the district-by-district competition that will ultimately decide who controls the House in January 2019. Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to capture control of the House.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s approval rating stood at 40 per cent, holding steady from a poll in early October and slightly higher than his 36 per cent rating in August. —