President Trump smiles during the introduction of his Secretary of Homeland Security nominee Kirstjen Nielsen in the East Room of the White House, October 12, 2017. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

For the first time this election cycle, Republicans lead Democrats on the generic ballot, according to a new Reuters poll.

About 38 percent of registered voters would pick the Republican candidate if midterm elections were today, while around 37 percent would pick the Democrat, 16 percent said they were unsure which party they would choose or refused to take the survey, and 7 percent would opt for a third-party candidate, the poll found.


The dramatic shift is bad news for Democrats, who were a full ten points on the generic ballot as recently as the end of April. If the trend holds, their hopes of regaining control of Congress atop a blue wave in November could be dashed.

Democrats need 24 seats to retake the House and three seats to retake the Senate, where the GOP holds a razor-thin majority. Republicans have not been as optimistic about retaining the majority in Congress, as it is common for the party of the president to lose ground in the first midterm after a presidential election.

Congressional Democrats on Monday debuted their campaign platform, “A Better Deal for Our Democracy,” which takes aim at the White House’s “Drain the Swamp” initiative. The minority party intends to paint the Trump administration as the “most corrupt administration in modern times,” citing ethics and corruption scandals weathered by cabinet members.


NOW WATCH: ‘Republicans Lead Democrats Ahead of 2018 Midterms: Poll’

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