Party affiliation and ideology of US registered voters

Changing Partisan Coalitions in a Politically Divided Nation
- What this report tells us – and what it doesn’t
1. The partisanship and ideology of American voters
- Partisans and partisan leaners in the U.S. electorate
- Party identification and ideology
2. Partisanship by race, ethnicity and education
3. Partisanship by gender, sexual orientation, marital and parental status
- Gender and partisanship
- Parents are more Republican than voters without children
4. Age, generational cohorts and party identification
5. Party identification among religious groups and religiously unaffiliated voters
6. Partisanship by family income, home ownership, union membership and veteran status
7. Partisanship in rural, suburban and urban communities
- Demographic differences in partisanship by community type
8. The changing demographic composition of voters and party coalitions
Acknowledgments
Methodology
- Overview of survey methodologies
- The 2023 American Trends Panel profile survey methodology
Appendix A: Adjusting for mode effects when combining telephone surveys and the American Trends Panel
- Measuring party identification across survey modes
- Adjusting telephone survey trends
Appendix B: Religious category definitions
Appendix C: Age cohort definitions

The partisan identification of registered voters is now evenly split between the two major parties: 49% of registered voters are Democrats or lean to the Democratic Party, and a nearly identical share – 48% – are Republicans or lean to the Republican Party.

Trend chart over time showing that 49% of registered voters are Democrats or lean to the Democratic Party, and 48% are Republicans or lean to the Republican Party. Four years ago, Democrats had a 5 percentage point advantage.

The partisan balance has tightened in recent years following a clear edge in Democratic Party affiliation during the last administration.

Four years ago, in the run-up to the 2020 election, Democrats had a 5 percentage point advantage over the GOP (51% vs. 46%).

The share of voters who are in the Democratic coalition reached 55% in 2008. For much of the last three decades of Pew Research Center surveys, the partisan composition of registered voters has been more closely divided.

Partisans and partisan leaners in the U.S. electorate

About two-thirds of registered voters identify as a partisan, and they are roughly evenly split between those who say they are Republicans (32% of voters) and those who say they are Democrats (33%). Roughly a third instead say they are independents or something else (35%), with most of these voters leaning toward one of the parties. Partisan leaners often share the same political views and behaviors as those who directly identify with the party they favor.

Bart charts over time showing that as of 2023, about two-thirds of registered voters identify as a partisan and are split between those who say they are Republicans (32%) and those who say they are Democrats (33%). Roughly a third instead say they are independents or something else (35%), with most of these voters leaning toward one of the parties. The share of voters who identify as independent or something else is somewhat higher than in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The share of voters who identify as independent or something else is somewhat higher than in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As a result, there are more “leaners” today than in the past. Currently, 15% of voters lean toward the Republican Party and 16% lean toward the Democratic Party. By comparison, in 1994, 27% of voters leaned toward either the GOP (15%) or the Democratic Party (12%).

Party identification and ideology

While the electorate overall is nearly equally divided between those who align with the Republican and Democratic parties, a greater share of registered voters say they are both ideologically conservative and associate with the Republican Party (33%) than say they are liberal and align with the Democratic Party (23%).

Bar charts by party and ideology showing that as of 2023, 33% of registered voters say they are both ideologically conservative and associate with the Republican Party, 14% identify as moderates or liberals and are Republicans or Republican leaners, 25% associate with the Democratic Party and describe their views as either conservative or moderate, and 23% are liberal and align with the Democratic Party.

A quarter of voters associate with the Democratic Party and describe their views as either conservative or moderate, and 14% identify as moderates or liberals and are Republicans or Republican leaners.

The partisan and ideological composition of voters is relatively unchanged over the last five years.

(As a result of significant mode differences in measures of ideology between telephone and online surveys, there is not directly comparable data on ideology prior to 2019.)