The Hill News

If the 2012 election were held today, Democratic congressional candidates would have more support than their Republican counterparts, a new poll found.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Tuesday found that 50 percent of registered voters would vote for the generic congressional Democratic candidate while 46 percent would vote for the generic Republican candidate.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said the results show that Democrats are regaining some of their constituents from the 2010 elections when Republicans netted 63 congressional seats and took control of the House.

"Now the Democrats are seeing some! of their natural constituencies coming home," Holland said. "In the latest generic ballot, Democrats have a 10-point lead among women, and a 9-point lead among voters who never attended college. But the Republicans still have a plurality of the Independent voters, 47 percent to 43 percent."

Holland warned the poll did not mean Democrats would take back the House next year.

"It's far too early to use these results to accurately forecast the 2012 congressional elections," Holland said. "But it does indicate that some of the shifts that swept the GOP into power in 2010 may be shifting back."

The poll was conducted before President Obama announced the killing of Osama bin Laden. Since news about bin Laden broke, Obama has seen small bounce in his overall approval ratings, mostly because of a positive spike on national security. His approval numbers on the economy remain near all-time lows.