More Americans now identify as Republicans than they do as Democrats, according to new polling regarding party affiliation conducted by Gallup.
According to the polling, conducted on January 16th-19th, 30% of American identify as Republicans. 27% identify as Democrats. The largest category consists of independents, who form 42% of registered voters. Independents have consistently made up the largest category of American voters for decades.
The development represents a rarity in American politics, as generally Democrats have a numerical advantage in terms of party registration throughout recent political history. The last two times that more Americans were registered as Republicans than they were as Democrats was in May 2016 and December 2011, an oddity that only lasted for a month both times.
It should be especially concerning for Democrats that they’re losing their registration advantage to Republicans in the midst of a competitive Democratic Presidential primary. One would think that flocks of voters would rush to register as Democrats in order to cast votes in the primary, but if anything is occurring, it seems to be the opposite.
It’s possible controversial proposals to open the borders and confiscate firearms could be driving Americans to abandon their Democratic Party registration. Polling reveals that the percentage of registered Democrats has declined four percentage points from 31% to 27% since November.
Independents also state that they lean more to the GOP than they do to the Democratic Party, by a handsome lead of 48% to 44%.
As mainstream media pundits proclaim what they hope will be the imminent death of the Republican Party, the opposite seems to be happening. A 30% share of national registered voters is a strong figure for the GOP, one only rarely matched in the last two decades of polling conducted on the figures.
The Democratic Party is largely occupied with its latest round of election integrity scandals, and may be unequipped to lead the voter registration efforts necessary to regain its traditional advantage in advance of the 2020 presidential election.
