Independent voters prefer GOP over Democrats by 16 points

A CBS/YouGov poll found that independent voters prefer Republican candidates over Democratic candidates less than two weeks before the midterm elections.

The poll compares how independent voters preferred Democratic congressional candidates (40%) over Republican candidates (38%) in a previous poll conducted on October 14. However, a second, more recent poll - October 28 - noted that independents said they preferred Republican candidates (49%) over Democratic candidates (33%).

This means that the GOP has a 16-point lead over the Democrats with eight days to go before the election. Given that in the poll two weeks earlier (October 14), the Democrats had a two-point lead over the Republicans, in that period the Republicans have regained an 18-point advantage.

The CBS/YouGov poll surveyed 1,000 Americans and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.

Republican perspective grows

Breitbart News notes that "the prospect of a Republican victory in both the House and Senate is growing more and more likely." Voters say that their primarily concerned about topics such as the economy and inflation and that they tend to put more trust in the GOP candidates than the Democrats to solve these issues.

Democrats have focused their campaign messages on issues such as abortion and climate change, which according to a New York Times/Sienna poll , is only the top issue most important to 5% of voters. By comparison, Republicans have based their campaign on the economy and high inflation, which a large number of voters say is the most important issue to them.

Another recent Rasmussen poll gave the Republicans victory over the Democrats with a 7 percentage point advantage on the Congressional ballot (49% vs. 42%) among all voters. The poll also found that Republicans enjoyed an 18-point lead over Democrats among independents.