PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Republicans and Democrats are virtually tied in Gallup's weekly poll of U.S. congressional preferences, the pollster reported Monday.
The generic ballot for Congress for the week of Sept. 13-19 showed Democrats leading Republicans 46 percent to 45 percent. The generic ballot has produced a virtual tie in two of the last three weeks, Gallup said on its Web site.
The organization's tracking poll shows Republicans ahead of Democrats 46 percent to 45 percent through September -- a slip from the GOP's 49 percent to 43 percent advantage in August. The tracking poll numbers were based on interviews with more than 5,600 voters so far in September and more than 7,000 in August.
Gallup said the so-called enthusiasm gap still favors Republicans with six weeks to go before the Nov. 2 general election.
"The enthusiasm gap this past week was 19 percentage points, with 47 percent of Republicans very enthusiastic about voting, compared with 28 percent of Democrats," Gallup said. "Republicans have enjoyed at least a 10-point advantage on this measure since Gallup began tracking congressional election preferences in March, including margins of 16 points or higher since August."
The poll results are based on telephone interviews conducted with a random sample of 2,925 registered voters in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error is 2 percentage points.
