New Gallup poll shows support for Democrats ticks up on generic ballot

Support for Democrats ticked upward in a generic ballot test against Republicans going into the fall's midterm elections.

A new Gallup poll released on Monday saw Democrats open up a six-point margin over the GOP, driven in part by a small bump in support by independents.

Forty-nine percent of voters said they'd prefer a Democratic candidate for Congress if this November's midterm election contests were held today, while 43 percent expressed support for a generic Republican candidate.

That support is up from a virtual 47-46 percent tie between Democrats and Republicans in last week's tracking poll, a change that represents the "first statistically significant lead" for Democrats since March, according to Gallup.

And while independents still favor Republican candidates 43 percent to 39, that margin narrowed from the 14-point lead the GOP maintained just last week, when independents expressed support for them, 48-34 percent.

The polling organization suggested that the Democratic uptick could be driven by the party's success at passing Wall Street reform through Congress in the past week, though Republican enthusiasm for voting in this fall's elections has also increased.

The poll, conducted July 12-18, has a 3 percent margin of error.