Democrats have the biggest advantage over Republicans in party identification in nearly nine years, according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday.
The survey found that 49 percent of adult respondents say they identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents, while 40 percent identify as Republicans or GOP-leaning independents. The 9-point lead is the largest for Democrats since the fourth quarter of 2012. Democratic gains have typically fluctuated between 4 and 6 points since then.
Of the 49 percent of voters who identified more with Democrats, 30 percent said they were Democrats and 19 percent said they were independents who leaned more towards the party. Twenty-five percent of respondents said they were Republicans, while 15 percent were independents who leaned more towards the GOP.
The vast majority of the remaining 11 percent of respondents identified as independents with no partisan tilt.
The poll was held in the first quarter of 2021, overlapping with the deadly uprising on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6. President Biden
Joe Biden Iran’s spy-linked ship attacked at sea Biden exceeds vaccine expectations – so far Jill Biden visits Alabama with actress Jennifer Garner MOREThe January 20 inauguration and the passage of a more than $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
The Democrats’ identification advantage is the highest the party has held since early 2009, the last time they had a double digit lead during the waning days of the George W. Bush administration.
Republicans had brief identification perks during successful mid-term cycles in 1994, 2010, and 2014.
The poll comes as both sides prepare for a contentious mid-term cycle in which control of both the House and Senate is up for grabs. Democrats control the bottom chamber by a five-seat margin and have a narrow 50-50 majority in the top chamber. Republicans managed to make gains in the interim of 2014, despite deficits in voter identification in 2012 and 2013.
The Gallup poll of 3,960 adults from January to March has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.