Number of Independents Increases. Which Party Do They Lean Towards?

A new study provides insights into which demographics of the American public identify with each political party.

In a report called “A Deep Dive Into Party Affiliation,” the Pew Research Center explores Americans’ political affiliations by categories such as religion, gender, race, age and education level.

The study examines “long-term trends in party affiliation among the public,” resulting in “a detailed portrait of where the parties stand among various groups in the population.”

According to Pew, 39 percent of Americans identify as independent, 32 percent as Democrat and 23 percent as Republican.

Pew notes that the percentage of independents is the highest they have reported in “more than 75 years of public opinion polling.”

When independents were asked which party they lean towards, 48 percent responded that they either identify with Democrats or lean Democratic, and 39 percent said the same of Republicans.

Forty-nine percent of whites responded that they lean Republican, 40 percent lean Democrat. Eighty percent of African-Americans lean Democrat, compared to 11 percent who lean Republican. Asians and Hispanics also were more likely to respond that they lean Democrat.

Pew also studied the leanings of each generation. Millennials are most likely to lean Democrat, and older Americans lean Republican.

The study concludes that Mormons, white evangelical Protestants and white southerners are among the groups that are the most reliably Republican, and African-Americans, Asians and those who don’t identify with a particular religion are among the most reliably Democrat.

The study draws from information gathered in over 25,000 interviews conducted by Pew in 2014.