51% of Hispanics say they're independents

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PRINCETON, N.J., July 2 (UPI) -- A majority of U.S. Hispanic voters identify themselves as political independents instead of Democrats or Republicans, a Gallup-USA Today poll indicated.

Fifty-one percent of Hispanics said they were independents, while 32 percent identified themselves as Democrats and 11 percent said they were Republicans, results released Monday indicated.

Of those affiliated with the two parties, 52 percent said they were Democrats and 23 percent said they leaned Republican.

The results confirm a trend toward independent political identification among U.S. Hispanics in recent years, topping the 50 percent mark in 2011, annual aggregate data from Gallup Daily tracking indicated.

Sixty percent of Hispanic immigrants identify themselves as political independents, compared with 44 percent of first-generation Hispanic Americans and 43 percent of second-generation Hispanics, the poll indicated.

All groups show much greater identification with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party, although Gallup said each succeeding generation was more likely to identify itself as Republican than the previous one.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 1,753 Hispanic adults conducted April 16-May 31. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.