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Dems’ polling lead is smaller than it was in 2018 — when blue wave failed to flip Senate

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King, R. (2026, September 20). Dems’ polling lead is smaller than it was in 2018 — when blue wave failed to flip Senate. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/20/us-news/dems-polling-lead-is-smaller-than-it-was-in-2018-when-blue-wave-failed-to-flip-senate/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-20 · by Ryan King

Quick Summary

A new NBC News poll shows Democrats leading Republicans 50% to 45% among registered voters regarding congressional control, a much narrower margin than in 2018 when Democrats had a 12-point lead. This year’s slim edge contrasts with the historical trend where the party controlling the White House typically loses seats; analysts now doubt if Democrats can match their previous success of gaining 41 House seats. The poll also highlights negative perceptions towards Democrats and Democratic Socialists, potentially hindering their chances.
Written by AI on 2026-09-21, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Democrats hold a five-point lead over Republicans among registered voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, according to a new NBC News poll conducted between September 11–15. The survey sampled 1,000 people with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, showing Democrats at 50% and Republicans at 45%. This is significantly narrower than the 12-point lead Democrats had in 2018 at this stage when they won control of the House but failed to flip the Senate. The current gap is also lower than the 8.1 point advantage Democrats have in the RealClearPolitics aggregate poll. Despite voters' concerns about affordability and Trump's low approval ratings, Democrats may struggle to match their previous electoral gains due to historical trends of the party in power losing seats.

Written for “Midterm Election Polling Leads” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Midterm Election Polling Leads
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 2 of 34 claims Outlet record 59/100
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Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of political polling and election forecasts with distinct dates and details.”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 28 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of political polling and predictions for control of Congress at different times.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of polling trends and do not describe the same specific incident or time frame.”
NBC News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 4 of 65 claims Outlet record 60/100
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Silver Bulletin
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 24 claims
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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 17 claims Outlet record 70/100
Los Angeles Times
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 6 of 58 claims Outlet record 95/100
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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 37 claims
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NPR
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 9 of 69 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles describe different polls with varying margins and contexts.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15490 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ryan King
105 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 Top campaign aides for Alaska Senate hopeful Mary Peltola were instructed to search for people named Dan Sullivan they could recruit for the contest, and she was “definitely aware,” a bombshell report revealed.
🔮 “It’s innumerate and morally obtuse and if anything remotely like it was aimed at Muslims [Uygur] and his ilk would (defensibly) be outraged.
🔮 The judge added that allowing Comey’s dismissal to stand “would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation’s constitutional system.”
🔮 Critically, the trend from September to October indicates that swing voters who will be deciding key races are increasingly turning on the far left.
🔮 To that end, the GOPer has called for an end to the war in Iran while touting his relationship with Trump as an asset that could help him convince the president to wind down the tariffs on Canada that have rocked Michigan.
🔮 “The gentleman from the cell phone tower company had told me that the best reception and coverage would be from the schoolhouse lot that the town owns.”
🔮 We’ve gone through the last year and a half — many of us, whether we admit it or not, have been saying things to the television that we would not say where we pray.”
Also by Ryan King
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 105 articles by Ryan King →

Topics

Congress Democrats GOP House Republicans

Subjects

Democrats NORP · 9× Republicans NORP · 7× GOP ORG · 5× House ORG · 5× Trump PERSON · 5× Congress ORG · 2× Democratic NORP · 2× Dems NORP · 2× NBC News ORG · 2× Senate ORG · 2×

Narrative

“The problem for Trump and Republicans on the ballot in November is that he has also made history in the highest share of voters who say their vote is in opposition to Trump.” The survey sampled 1,000 between Sept. 11–15 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-21
🔮 But the NBC News poll signals that Democrats may not be able to repeat the 41-seat House swing they had during the last blue wave cycle.

Claims (22 extracted, 3 hedged)

Democrats have a dramatically smaller lead over Republicans in the battle for control of Congress than they did at this point in the blue wave cycle of 2018 — when the won the House but failed to flip the Senate, according to new polling. uncertain
the → have → polling
With just 44 days left to go, Democrats edged out Republicans 50% to 45% among registered voters who were asked about their generic preference for which party should control Congress, according to an NBC News poll. uncertain
party → leave → poll
That’s above the margin of error, but also much slimmer than the 12-point edge they had at this stage of the 2018 cycle, per the outlet. asserted
they → ’ → outlet
When the election took place, Democrats had an 8.6 percentage point popular vote edge over the GOP for the House. asserted
Democrats → take → House
It’s also lower than the 8.1 point advantage Democrats have in the RealClearPolitics aggregate of generic congressional ballot polling. asserted
Democrats → ’ → polling
The party in control of the White House has lost seats in all but two elections since 1938. asserted
party → lose → 1938
Given that, affordability concerns, and Trump’s underwater approval rating, many analysts favored Democrats to at least take control of the House. asserted
Democrats → give → House
But the NBC News poll signals that Democrats may not be able to repeat the 41-seat House swing they had during the last blue wave cycle. uncertain
they → signal → cycle
Some analysts believe that redistricting from the latest census has made swings of that size nearly impossible, anyway. asserted
swings → believe → size
In the 2018 election, the Dems also lost Senate seats — although the election map was much harder for the party that year. asserted
map → lose → party
That year, Republicans were able to beat Democratic incumbents in Florida, Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota. asserted
Republicans → beat → Florida
Democrats picked up seats in Nevada and Arizona. asserted
Democrats → pick → Nevada
Part of the problem for Democrats is that they are viewed more negatively than the GOP, with 29% of respondents having a positive view, compared to 50% negative. asserted
% → view → %
For Republicans, it was 36% positive, compared to 49% negative. asserted
it → compare → %
Only 22% viewed the Democratic Socialists of America favorably, and about half of voters indicated they’d be less likely to back someone who “supports many of the Democratic Socialists of America’s proposed policies,” per the poll. asserted
who → view → poll
Republicans have seized on the rise of the DSA as part of their effort to defy history and hold the House. asserted
Republicans → seize → House
Still, the survey signals significant headwinds for the GOP. asserted
survey → signal → GOP
Trump’s approval rating clocked in at 41%, and 55% of respondents concluded that his policies have worsened the economy, an uptick from 48% in March of this year, the poll found. asserted
poll → clock → year
Meanwhile, 43% of respondents said their vote in the midterms will signal opposition to Trump, compared to 27% who said it would indicate support for him. asserted
it → say → him
Over recent years, Republicans had dominated Democrats on the economy, but the poll found that the Dems now have a 1-point edge over the GOP. asserted
Dems → dominate → GOP
“Donald Trump has achieved his goal of making this election about him at a historic level,” Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the poll alongside the GOP-led firm Public Opinion Strategies, told NBC about the results. asserted
who → achieve → results
“The problem for Trump and Republicans on the ballot in November is that he has also made history in the highest share of voters who say their vote is in opposition to Trump.” The survey sampled 1,000 between Sept. 11–15 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. asserted
survey → make → points
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