Half of Voters Want Democrats to Control Congress, Poll Finds

Fifty percent of registered voters want Democrats to control Congress after the 2018 elections, a new poll finds — the highest number in nearly a decade.

According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday, 50% of registered voters want Democrats to control Congress next year, in comparison with 39% of voters who want Republicans in control. This was an increase from October, when 48% of those polled wanted Democrats to control Congress, and 41% wanted Republicans.

Democrats have not reached the 50% threshold on this question in this poll since 2008, NBC News noted.

The poll was conducted from Dec. 13 through 15, among 900 adults, 736 of whom are registered voters. The margin of error is 3.3 percentage points, and 3.6 percentage points among registered voters.

The polling comes on the heels of Democrat Doug Jones’ victory over Roy Moore in the Alabama senate race. With that victory, Jones became the first Democratic Senator to represent Alabama in a quarter of a century. Jones was buoyed by high turnout in Democratic strongholds, particularly among African American voters.

The poll also found an enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans; 59% of Democrats polled said they had a high level of interest in next year’s midterm elections, in comparison with 49% of Republicans.

Write to Alana Abramson at Alana.Abramson@time.com.