Americans want Democrats to control the Senate

With six months to go before the midterm elections, Americans would prefer that the Senate remain under Democratic control, according to a CNN poll released Monday afternoon.

In the survey, 45 percent of respondents said that, should Republicans maintain control of the House come November, the country would be "better off" if Democrats kept their majority in the Senate. Meanwhile, 42 percent said they hoped Republicans would take the Senate while holding the House.

Given that Democrats face an unfavorable political climate and a 30-plus seat disadvantage in the House, the likelihood of Republicans losing control of the lower chamber is somewhere close to nil.

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That said, national polls like this one don't necessarily capture the mood within battleground states. So even if the nation as a whole would like a Democratic-controlled Senate, it will be the voters in a few key contests who decide if that comes to pass.