Poll: Asian-Americans prefer Democrats

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PRINCETON, N.J., March 4 (UPI) -- Asian-Americans said they solidly prefer the Democratic Party, with 57 percent saying they identify with that party, Gallup said.

Twenty-eight percent of Asian Americans said they identified with or leaned Republican, results of the poll released Monday indicated.

Thirteen percent said they are "pure" independents.

However, data suggest a substantial portion of Asian-Americans aren't entirely wedded to either major political party, the Princeton, N.J., polling firm said. Forty-six percent first describe themselves as independent or other when asked, then said they "lean" Republican or Democratic, giving the Democratic Party a majority of support within this group that was a key part of President Obama's 2012 election.

Republicans did not perform well among Asian-Americans in the 2012 election, losing this group by an estimated 72 percent-to-26 percent margin, Gallup said.

The findings are based on aggregated data from Gallup Daily tracking surveys throughout 2012, including interviews with 6,465 Asian-Americans, the pollster said. For the purpose of this analysis, respondents are categorized as Asian-American if they self-identify their race as Asian.

Results are based on phone interviews with 338,703 adults conducted Jan. 2-Dec. 30, 2012, on the Gallup Daily tracking survey, of which 6,465 were categorized as Asian-American. The margins of error for the total sample and the Asian-American sample are 1 percentage point each.