Millennials may play a crucial role for this year's midterm elections, and it could benefit the Republican Party come Election Day.

Harvard's Institute of Politics (IOP) surveyed the voting behavior of millennials, an age group of 18 to 29 year olds, and found 51 percent of respondents will "definitely be voting" during the midterm election with the preference of a Republican-controlled Congress. With 47 percent, millennials stated they plan to vote for a Democratic-controlled Congress. In comparison to 2010 data, 55 percent of millennials preferred a Democratic-controlled Congress compared to the 43 percent who leaned towards Republican control.

When it comes to race, Latinos who plan to "definitely" vote was the lowest compared to blacks and whites. While 29 percent of whites and 28 percent of blacks plan to vote, 17 percent of Latinos shared the same sentiment.

The Latino support of President Barack Obama among millenial voters has been slipping, according to the Harvard IOP survey. Millennial Latino support for Obama was larger during the 2012 presidential election against former GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, 74 percent to 23 percent, respectively, but the report revealed support appeared to be "weakening." Latino support of Obama are now in the lowest levels since IOP started tracking the president's approval rating, with 49 percent in favor and 46 percent in opposition.

Based on a White House report, millennials are the most diverse and educated generation to date with 42 percent identifying themselves with a race or ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white.

"The IOP's fall polling shows that young Americans care deeply about their country and are politically up-for-grabs," said Harvard IOP Director Maggie Williams. "Millennials could be a critical swing vote. Candidates for office: ignore millennial voters at your peril."

"While Democrats have lost ground among members of America's largest generation, millennial views of Republicans in Congress are even less positive," said Harvard IOP Polling Director John Della Volpe. "Both parties should re-introduce themselves to young voters, empower them and seek their participation in the upcoming 2016 campaign and beyond."

Overall, millennials prefer Congress to be controlled by Democrats with 50 percent than 43 percent to Republicans. But when asked among the millennials on who will "definitely vote" this year, the tide shifted in favor of the Republicans.

Approximately one-in-four millennials, or 26 percent, said they "definitely" plan on voting, which is a slight decrease from the 27 percent recorded in Harvard IOP's September 2010 survey.

Republican millennials have also shown more enthusiasm than Democratic millennials with 42 percent compared to 30 percent, respectively. In comparison to 2010 data, 38 percent of Republican millennials planned to "definitely" vote while 33 percent of Democrats confirmed they would be at the polls; therefore, an increase occurred among GOP millennials.

The survey comprised 2,029 U.S. citizen adults from the ages of 18 through 29 between Sept. 26 and Oct. 9.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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