A Republican candidate’s lead over a Democrat expanded to five points on the weekly generic congressional ballot, a Rasmussen Reports poll released Friday showed.

As Republicans look to retake control of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections — only 81 days away — the most recent Rasmussen Reports survey showed that 46 percent of likely U.S. voters would elect a Republican, compared to the 41 percent who say they would vote for a Democrat.

Republicans, therefore, have a five-point lead, slightly higher than last week when they had a three-point lead on the generic congressional ballot. In this Rasmussen Reports poll, four percent said they would vote for another candidate, and the other eight percent said they were unsure.

While the generic Republican’s lead has expanded slightly, it shows that the GOP is gaining momentum again after the expansive ten-point lead the generic Republican saw last month. However, the election is still roughly three months away, so there is still time for the generic ballot to move either way before November. However, the Republicans have led the generic ballot all year.

Rasmussen had noted that in August 2018 — before Democrats took the House for the first time in eight years — they had a seven-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot. But as the 2018 November midterm election neared, the margins between Democrats and Republicans became extremely close: Republicans had 46 percent to 45 percent for Democrats.

In this poll, the Republican party has an advantage (11 points) with independents over Democrats. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 41 percent said they would vote for the GOP candidate, while only 3o percent said they would vote for the Democrat candidate.

Additionally, 26 percent of black voters and 44 percent of other minority groups said they would vote for the Republican candidate if the election were held today. A Democrat candidate would garner support from 58 percent of black voters and 41 percent of other minority groups.

Furthermore, there is a difference in voter intensity between the parties, with 86 percent of Republican voters saying they would vote for their own party’s congressional candidate and only 82 percent of Democrats saying the same thing.

The Rasmussen Reports survey was conducted between August 14 to 18 and questioned 2,500 likely United States voters. The survey had a two percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.