Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
6 facts about U.S. political independents
Push and pull factors into partisan leaning, but ‘push’ matters more
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- 6 facts about U.S. political independents
- More Republican leaners have conservative attitudes across major issues; Democratic leaners increasingly express liberal views
- Steep growth in highly negative views of opposing party among partisans, leaners
- Fewer than half of partisan leaners rate members of their own parties warmly
- Push and pull factors into partisan leaning, but ‘push’ matters more
- Share of political independents has continued to grow
- Independents who do not lean to a party less likely to say they voted in 2018
- Leaners much less likely than partisans to say quality of candidates running for office ‘has been good’
- People who affiliate with a party and independents who lean toward it have similar views on current political issues
- Republican-leaning independents more likely than Republicans to favor legal marijuana, gay marriage
- Though about four-in-ten Americans call themselves ‘independents,’ few are truly independent