U.S. Senate race narrows as Democratic lead shrinks in latest poll

A New York Times/Siena College poll of 3,494 voters indicates the U.S. Senate race is tightening ahead of the congressional midterm elections. While Democrats maintain a four-point lead with 47 percent of likely voters supporting their candidate compared to 43 percent for the Republican, this represents a narrowing from a six-point advantage recorded in mid-September.

The shift is driven by changes in key demographics. Although Latinos, young voters, and independents still support Democrats by double-digit margins, those margins have decreased since the previous survey. Most notably, the Democratic lead among Latino voters dropped from 36 percentage points in September to 14 percentage points in the latest poll, with the Republican share of the Latino vote rising by 10 points.