January 1, Poll: US Political Party Preference Shifted Greatly in 2021

A new Gallup poll found that Americans’ political preferences shifted significantly from Democratic to Republican last year.

In the first quarter of last year, 49% of Americans said they identified as a Democrat or a lean-Democratic independent, while 40% said they were a Republican or a lean-Republican independent. This marked the largest lead Democrats had over the GOP since 2012.

But the percentage of respondents who identified with the left started to fall, with more people beginning to align themselves with the right.

In the second quarter, while the percentage of Americans who identified as Democrats or lean-Democratic independents held steady at 49%, more Americans said they were Republicans or lean-Republican independents, increasing to 43%.

The third quarter marked a 4-point drop for Democrats, falling to 45%, while Republicans climbed to 44%.

By the fourth quarter of 2021, more Americans said they identified with the right than the left, 47% to 42%.

However, Gallup noted that the GOP’s advantage seems to be tapering off. Currently, Republicans have a 2 percentage point lead over the Democrats, 46% to 44%.

Gallup polled 12,000 randomly sampled U.S. adults throughout 2021. The margin of sampling error is 1 percentage point.

Source:

U.S. Political Party Preferences Shifted Greatly During 2021