Democrats Maintain Solid Lead in Generic Congressional Ballot
ActiVote’s August 9, 2026 Generic Congressional Ballot poll finds that the Democrats lead the Republicans by 5.0%. The poll was in the field between July 29 and August 8 (median field date of August 3). The poll was among 1000 likely midterm voters and has an average expected error of 3.1%.
The Republicans lead among rural voters, voters 65 and older, men, registered Republicans and the (moderate) right. The two parties are essentially even among White voters, high-income voters and those with a college degree. Democrats lead among all other groups.
Compared with our June 29 poll, the national margin is virtually unchanged, at 5.0% against 5.2%. There was more movement within groups, with the Democrats gaining among voters aged 50 to 64 (from 46% to 52%) and among those with a graduate degree (from 45% to 57%), while losing ground among Black voters (from 71% to 61%) and Latino voters (from 58% to 52%). These group figures rest on subsamples for which the expected error is considerably larger than the 3.1% for the poll as a whole.
Political Spectrum
The following graph shows the support for Democrats and Republicans among left, moderate left, center, moderate right, and right voters. These groups are defined by splitting the national electorate in 5 equal sized groups of 20% each
The left and moderate left are virtually unanimous (97%) in their support for the Democrats, as is the right (96%) in its support for the Republicans. The support for Republicans from the moderate right is at a slightly lower level (88%), while the Democrats have a 6% lead among centrists, down from 8% in June.
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 | 1000 LV | Unweighted | Weighted | Generic Democrat | Generic Republican |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | ±3.1% MoE | 100% | 100% | 52.5% | 47.5% |
| Political Spectrum | Left | 27% | 20% | 99% | 1% |
| Moderate Left | 36% | 20% | 95% | 5% | |
| Center | 14% | 20% | 53% | 47% | |
| Moderate Right | 12% | 20% | 12% | 88% | |
| Right | 11% | 20% | 4% | 96% | |
| Region | rural | 40% | 35% | 45% | 55% |
| suburban | 32% | 31% | 51% | 49% | |
| urban | 28% | 34% | 62% | 38% | |
| Age | 18-29 | 26% | 14% | 63% | 37% |
| 30-49 | 41% | 27% | 62% | 38% | |
| 50-64 | 20% | 24% | 52% | 48% | |
| 65+ | 13% | 36% | 42% | 58% | |
| Gender | F | 33% | 53% | 57% | 43% |
| M | 67% | 47% | 47% | 53% | |
| Party | D | 50% | 38% | 91% | 9% |
| R | 26% | 35% | 6% | 94% | |
| I | 21% | 24% | 59% | 41% | |
| Ethnicity | White | 80% | 71% | 50% | 50% |
| Black | 9% | 10% | 61% | 39% | |
| Latino | 7% | 12% | 52% | 48% | |
| Income | Low | 25% | 22% | 56% | 44% |
| Middle | 31% | 29% | 54% | 46% | |
| High | 44% | 49% | 50% | 50% | |
| Education | HS | 27% | 25% | 56% | 44% |
| College | 64% | 60% | 50% | 50% | |
| Grad | 10% | 16% | 57% | 43% |