NPR Poll: Dems Have Early Edge for '06 Elections

[Neil D]

February 26, 2005

A newly-released poll for National Public Radio gives Democratic congressional candidates an early lead in the 2006 congressional campaign. The poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research 2/15-17 indicated that 42 percent of repondents would vote for the Democratic candidate and 36 percent would vote for the Republican candidate in their district, "if the election for Congress were held today."

The 6 point Democratic advantage was in line with a GQRR poll conducted in January that gave the Dems a 5 point advantage in '06. A December Ipsos-Public Affairs poll gave the Dems a 7 point advantage in response to the question "And if the election for congress were held today, would you want to see the Republicans or Democrats win control of Congress?"

[Ron Lambert]

That question is too general. Asking if people would prefer to see control of Congress return to more of a balance between the two major parties would not necessarily ellicit the same result as asking voters if they would vote for a specific Republican or Democratic candidate in their own district. The latter is what people vote for.