Democrats are leading by double digits in an early 2018 midterm poll

Republicans could be facing a tough election in the 2018 midterms, trailing Democrats by double digits in the generic ballot, according to a new CNN poll.

The poll found 51 percent of voters support the Democratic Party while 37 percent support the GOP on the generic ballot, which asks voters which party they would support but not about specific candidates. The poll was conducted from October 12 to 15 and has a sampling error of 3.5 percentage points.

Republicans are struggling slightly more than Democrats with their own voters. Eighty-eight percent of self-identified Republicans said they’d vote for the Republican candidate and 8 percent said they’d vote for the Democrat, compared to 98 percent of Democrats who said they’d vote for the Democratic candidate.

Of course, the 2018 midterms are still a long way away — but the poll suggests that the GOP might have an uphill battle to hang on to its congressional majorities. Forecasting models suggest that Democrats would have a good chance of retaking the House if they run 5 points ahead of Republicans on the generic ballot.