Gallup poll: Political party affiliation is steady among U.S. voters

Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Political party affiliation has held steady among American voters, a new Gallup poll indicates.

In 2019, 47 percent of U.S. adults identified as either Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents, while 42 percent identified as Republicans or Republican-leaning, a Gallup poll released Tuesday shows.

The Democratic figure has not changed in four years. The Republican figure has varied between 41 percent and 42 percent since 2016, when President Donald Trump was elected. The differential between the two parties matches the average differential since 1991.

More respondents identified as independents than as party members. In 2019, 41 percent self-identified as independents, with 17 percent saying they lean Democratic, 14 percent who lean Republican and 10 percent who did not name a party preference.

In eight of the past nine years of the poll, the percentage of political independents has been 40 percent or higher. The presidential election year of 2016 was the exception. Prior to 2011, the benchmark of 40 percent of independents was never reached.

The results of the poll were based on aggregated data from all Gallup Poll surveys in 2019, which included interviews with more than 29,000 U.S. adults.