PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The number of blue states outnumbered the number of red states in the United States last year, 20 to 12, results of a Gallup poll released Wednesday indicated.
After the District of Columbia, the most Democratic-leaning states in 2012 were Hawaii, Maryland, Rhode Island, New York, and Massachusetts, where Democrats held at least 20-percentage-point advantages in party identification, results indicated.
Republicans held a similarly lopsided advantage in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.
Connecticut, Vermont, Illinois and Delaware round out the top 10 most Democratic states, with eight of the top 10 blue states in the East.
The top Republican states were more spread out, with North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Alabama, Montana, Alaska and Oklahoma rounding out the top 10.
On average in Gallup Daily tracking last year, 45 percent of all U.S. adults identified themselves as Democrats or leaning Democratic while 41 percent identified themselves as Republican or leaning Republican.
Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews conducted with 321,233 adults as part of Gallup Daily tracking Jan. 1-Dec. 31. The margin of error is 1 percentage point.