A record share of voters in both parties are paying close attention to the midterm elections, helping drive up President Trump’s job-approval score and possibly undercutting predictions of a “blue wave,” a new poll found.
In The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll released Sunday, nearly two thirds of registered voters said they had a high level of interest in the Nov. 6 elections. That’s the highest level of voter interest since the poll began asking the question in 2006.
It has made the close contests in key House and Senate races more unpredictable.
“It’s a barnburner,” Bill McInturff, a GOP pollster who conducted the survey with Democrat Fred Yang, told the newspaper. “There’s a switch that’s been flipped. … They are engaging in the campaign and the process.”
The surge in voter interest coincided with Mr. Trump’s job-approval rating climbing to 47 percent, his highest score yet in the poll with 49 percent disapproving of his performance.
The president’s score rose 3 points from September, when voters gave him a 44-52 percent approve-disapprove split.
Democrats continued to lead on the question of which party should control Congress at 50 percent, compared to 41 percent preferring Republicans.
But Republicans closed the once-large enthusiasm gap among voters.
Following a surge in energy following the confirmation fight over Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, 68 percent of Republicans said they are very interested in the election, while 72 percent of Democrat voters said the same.
The level of enthusiasm among Democrat voters was the highest recorded for either party in the poll.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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