More than half of American voters say they would vote for Republican congressional candidates in the upcoming midterm elections, as Democratic President Joe Biden's performance reached a new low of 41 percent, a new poll released on Sunday has found.
Republican congressional candidates currently hold their largest lead in midterm election vote preferences in ABC News/Washington Post polls dating back 40 years.
According to the survey, which asked respondents who they would support in a race for US House of Representatives, 51 percent of all registered voters said they would vote for a Republican in their congressional district, as opposed to 41 percent who said they would back the Democratic candidate in their district.
"Indeed, it's only the second time the GOP has held a statistically significant advantage (the other was +7 points in January 2002) and the ninth time it's held any numerical edge at all," the poll stated.
Republicans believe their midterm chances are good if the race is focused on Biden’s agenda and record, provided his sinking approval ratings.
The ABC News/Washington Post poll also found 62 percent of Americans said the Democratic Party is "out of touch" with the concerns of most Americans. About 58 percent said the same of Republicans.
However, a total of 63 percent of all respondents expressed support for Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure bill and another 58 percent supported the larger social spending packages Democrats are planning to approve from Congress.
The latest numbers come as Biden has seen low approval ratings in recent months. The poll found that Biden's approval rating reached a new low of 41 percent. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed said they disapprove of his job performance.
Only 39 percent of voters said they approve Biden’s handling of the economy.
Biden's approval rating has been on the decline in recent weeks, hovering in the low 40s in polls, after he failed to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and withdrew American troops from Afghanistan following a US military defeat in the twenty-year war.
According to a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey carried out at the end of October, Biden’s approval rating had slipped to 43 percent, down 5 points from the survey done in September.