Several factors have combined to create a strong headwind for Democrats and their hope to retain majority control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.

The odds are so much in favor of Republicans that even the traditionally left-leaning poll NPR/Marist poll showed the GOP with a lead in the generic congressional ballot question for the first time since 2014, Breitbart reported.

The topline takeaway is, that if the elections were to be held today, 47 percent of registered voters would choose an unnamed Republican candidate while 44 percent would vote for an unnamed Democrat.

First GOP generic ballot lead in 8 years

This NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll was conducted between April 19 and 26 and surveyed 1,162 registered voters with a margin of error of 3.7 percent.

As noted, Republicans hold a three-point advantage over Democrats on the generic congressional ballot but the really surprising news is found in the demographic breakdown of those results.

Independent voters broke substantially for the GOP over the Dems, 45 to 38 percent, with 6 percent who would vote for a third-party candidate and 10 percent who were unsure.

Also of note is the Latino bloc in this poll, which aligned even more strongly with Republicans, 52 to 39 percent, with 8 percent undecided.

GOP leads on most important issues

Marist Poll further reported that its latest survey showed that Republicans held significant leads over their Democratic rivals on several key issues that voters are concerned about.

That includes handling the economy (43-28 percent), inflation (43-21), crime (40-23), national security (45-25), immigration (39-33), and gun policy (43-33).

Democrats, meanwhile, maintained the confidence of voters for issues like abortion (42-33), education (40-31), election security (35-31), voting rights (42-33), coronavirus (38-27), climate change (47-19), and LGBTQ rights (48-20).

Dems have work to do

Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said of the new poll’s results, “The road to the midterms has the GOP in the driver’s seat.”

“If the Democrats can’t boost their credibility on the economy, they will need to hone a message about what a Congress controlled by Republicans will mean for the composition of the Supreme Court and the issues Americans look to Democrats to protect or advance,” the director added.