Overall, 48% of all registered voters identify equally Democrats or lean Autonomous compared with 44% who identify equally Republican or lean toward the GOP.

While partisan preferences among all voters are narrowly split up, there are wide gaps in leanings among demographic groups. There are key differences in how men and women, young and onetime, whites, blacks and Hispanics describe their partisan leanings. In many cases, persistent differences have grown wider in contempo years.

Wide race, gender differences in partisan leaning

There are wide differences in partisan amalgamation between white, blackness and Hispanic registered voters. Partisan differences between these groups have been relatively stable in recent years, but are wider than they were in 2008 – a relative high betoken in Autonomous affiliation – when white voters were less Republican in their partisan orientation than today.

Overall, 35% of white registered voters place as contained, while nigh every bit many (36%) identify as Republican and fewer (26%) identify as Democratic.

Partisan identification amidst whites is little changed since 2012. Since 2008, however, the share of white voters who identify as Democrats has declined five points, while the share who identify as independent has increased four points. There has been a slight two-point increase in the share identifying as Republican.

The Republican Political party holds a sizable advantage in leaned political party amalgamation among white voters. This year, 54% of white registered voters identify as Republican or lean toward the GOP, while just 39% affiliate with the Democratic Party or lean Autonomous. While that represents just a pocket-sized shift since 2012, when Republicans led by a 12-point margin (52%-40%), in 2008 leaned partisan alignment amidst whites was closely divided (46% Republican, 44% Autonomous). The current fifteen-point GOP edge in leaned partisan amalgamation is as wide an advantage for the Republican Political party among white voters as Pew Research Eye has measured over the past 24 years.

Trends in party affiliation amidst black voters have been largely stable over recent years. Overall, 87% of black voters place with the Democratic Party or lean Democratic, compared with just 7% who identify every bit Republican or lean Republican.

Among Hispanic voters, the Democratic Party holds a 63% to 27% reward over the GOP in leaned party identification. As with blackness voters, trends in political party amalgamation amongst Hispanic voters have inverse little in contempo years.

Based on 2016 surveys, 66% of Asian registered voters identify with the Democratic Party or lean Democratic, compared with 27% who identify as Republican or lean Republican. The data for party identification amongst Asians are based on interviews conducted in English.

When it comes to gender and partisan preferences, the Republican Party has a significant advantage in leaned party identification among men, an edge that has widened in recent years, while the Democratic Party holds a big reward among women.

Past 51% to 41%, more men identify as Republican or lean toward the GOP than place as Democrats or lean Democratic. This marks a major change from 2008, when the Democratic Political party briefly enjoyed a slight edge in leaned party identification amid men (46%-44%). The current 10-point border held by the Republican Party also is significantly higher than the four-point edge the GOP held in 2012.

More than half of women (54%) identify as Democrats or lean Autonomous, compared with 38% who say they are Republican or lean Republican. Democrats accept held a consistent advantage among women in leaned party identification in Pew Research Middle surveys dating to 1992. The current 16-indicate edge is as large as information technology has been over the by several years, but somewhat smaller than the 21-signal reward the Democratic Party held amid women in 2008.

Among white men, the Republican Party holds a broad 61% to 32% advantage in leaned party identification. The GOP reward among white men is larger than it was in both 2008 (51%-39%) and 2012 (56%-36%).

Among white women, nigh equally many registered voters place equally Republican or lean toward the Republican Political party (47%) as say they identify equally Democrats or lean Autonomous (46%). Leaned party identification among white women has fluctuated over the past decade: in 2008, the Democratic Party held a 49% to 42% advantage in leaned party identification; in 2012, the Republican Party held a 48%-44% edge.

Democrats hold broad advantage amid college graduates

Trends in partisan identification among those with dissimilar levels of education have undergone major changes over the last 2 decades. Less-educated voters – once a stiff Democratic bloc – have moved toward the Republican Party, while college graduates have moved toward the Democratic Political party.

In 1992, Democrats held an 18-point reward in leaned partisan identification among those with no more than than a high school caste (55% vs. 37%). This Democratic reward persisted through the 1990s and early 2000s but has evaporated over the course of the final eight years.

In 2008, the Democratic edge in leaned party affiliation amongst those with no college experience was 17 points: 53% said they identified equally Democrats or leaned Democratic, compared with 36% who identified as Republican or leaned Republican. Today, the film is dramatically different: 46% now place as Democrats or lean Democratic, compared with about as many (45%) who place as Republican or lean Republican.

Patterns in party amalgamation are the reverse among college graduates. The Democratic Party currently holds a 53% to 41% reward in leaned party identification among voters with a college caste or more. In 1992, 49% of college graduates preferred the GOP, while 45% affiliated with the Autonomous Party. The Republican Political party began to lose ground among college graduates in the second half of George W. Bush-league's starting time term, and by 2008, the Autonomous Party held a x-point edge in leaned party affiliation amid college graduates (51% to 41%). The Autonomous reward narrowed past the midterm election twelvemonth of 2010, but has reemerged over the final half dozen years.

The partisan preferences of voters with some higher feel, but no degree, are divided. In 2016, about as many identify every bit Republican or lean Republican (46%) as place as Democrats or lean Autonomous (45%). In 2008 – the Democratic Party's recent high-h2o mark in party affiliation – Democrats had a 10-point reward in leaned party identification among those with some college experience. That edge was not long-lasting and disappeared by 2010.

The Republican Party's gains amongst those with no college experience are particularly pronounced among white voters. Currently, 59% of whites with no higher experience identify as Republican or lean Republican, compared with but 33% who place as Democrats or lean Democratic. This is a dramatic shift from 2007, when the Democratic Party held a slight 46% to 42% edge amongst non-higher whites in partisan amalgamation.

By dissimilarity, white voters with at to the lowest degree a college degree are evenly divided in their leaned partisan affiliation (48% Democrat vs. 47% Republican). The balance of leaned party amalgamation among white higher graduates is about the same as it was in 2008 and 2012, but is less Republican than in 2010. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, white college graduates were significantly more likely to lean toward the Republican than Democratic Political party.

The GOP holds a 21-point advantage today in partisan affiliation amongst white voters with some college feel but no degree (57% to 36%). The Republican Party has held an edge in leaned party amalgamation amidst white voters with some college feel over each of the terminal 24 years. The current GOP advantage among whites with some college experience is comparable to the 19-point edge the party held in 2012 and larger than the five-betoken edge it held in 2008.

In 1992, an identical 44% of white men and white women who had not graduated from college identified as Republican or leaned Republican. Today, white men without a college caste (65%) are much more likely than white women without a college degree (51%) to place as or lean Republican. The current gap between the two groups in Republican affiliation is every bit wide as it has been in the past quarter-century.

The gap in Republican amalgamation among higher educated white men and white women, by contrast, is nearly the same today as it has been over the course of the terminal 24 years. Overall, 54% of white men with a higher degree identify every bit Republican or lean Republican, compared with 41% of white women with at least a college caste. The current xiii-signal gap in Republican affiliation between the two groups is the same every bit it was in 1992.

The overall Democratic advantage amidst voters who have graduated from higher is driven in large office by the strong Democratic tilt of those with postgraduate experience. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) registered voters with postgraduate feel identify with the Democratic Party or lean Democratic, compared with far fewer (36%) who identify as Republican or lean Republican. The Democratic advantage amongst those with postgraduate experience began to emerge in George W. Bush's first term and is currently as broad as it has been in Pew Enquiry Heart surveys dating to 1992.

Amongst those who have received a college degree simply do non have any postgraduate feel, the Democratic Party holds a more than modest edge: One-half identify equally Democrats or lean Democratic, while 44% identify as Republican or lean toward the GOP.

Among white voters with postgraduate experience, the Democratic Party has a 54% to 42% advantage in leaned political party identification. This is the only educational grouping among whites where the Democratic Party holds a significant edge over the GOP. Amid whites with a college degree but no postgraduate experience, 50% identify with the Republican Political party or lean that fashion, compared with 45% who place as Democrats or lean Democratic.

Party identification beyond generations

Among Millennials, the youngest developed generation (today ages 18-35), 41% identify as independents, compared with 34% who identify as Democrats and merely 22% who identify as Republicans. The share of Millennials who identify equally independent is up eight points since 2008.

On leaned party affiliation, however, Millennials take a stiff Democratic orientation. Past 57% to 36% more Millennial voters identify equally Democrats or lean Democratic than place as Republican or lean Republican.

The partisan leanings of Gen Xers and Infant Boomers are more than closely divided. Overall, somewhat more than Gen Xers identify as Democrats or lean Democratic (48%) than identify as Republicans or lean Republican (42%). Among Infant Boomers, the GOP holds a slight 49% to 45% edge in leaned party affiliation. Gen Xers and Baby Boomers take been relatively divide in their partisan leanings for much of the past 24 years, though the Democratic Party briefly held a adequately broad advantage amidst both groups between 2006 and 2008.

Amid members of the Silent Generation, which includes voters who are today between the ages of 71 and 88, the Republican Party has opened a wide reward in leaned political party affiliation over the past several years. By 53% to 40% more members of the Silent Generation place as or lean Republican than Democratic. This is the largest advantage for the GOP among Silent Generation voters in Pew Research surveys dating to 1992.

Millennials now match Baby Boomers every bit the generation that represents the largest number of eligible voters in the land. While Millennials are a large and diverse cohort, there continues to be no sign of differences in partisanship amid younger and older member of the generation. Like shares of Millennials ages 18-25 (58%) and 26-35 (56%) place as Democrats or lean towards the Democratic Party.

Amongst white voters, as many Millennials identify as Republican or lean Republican (47%) as say they identify as Democrats or lean Democratic (47%). Amongst all older generations, the GOP has a significant advantage in leaned party affiliation amid white voters, including a 24-point edge among white voters in the Silent generation.

Among not-white voters, the Democratic Party holds a broad advantage in leaned party amalgamation and in that location is little difference in patterns beyond generations. Roughly seven-in-x non-white voters in each generation identify as Democrats or lean Democratic.

Party identification across religious groups

White evangelical Protestants – long a solidly Republican grouping – have become even more than likely to identify with the Republican Political party in recent years. Currently, about three-quarters of white evangelicals (76%) identify with the GOP or lean Republican, compared with just 20% who are Democrats or lean Autonomous. The share affiliating with the GOP is up 12 points since 2008, including a 5-signal uptick since 2012.

The partisan leanings of white mainline Protestants today are similar to those of white voters overall. By 55% to 37%, more affiliate with the GOP than Autonomous Political party. In 2008 – a recent high-indicate in Democratic amalgamation – white mainline Protestants were divided: As many aligned themselves with the Democratic Party as the Republican Party (45% each). The Republican Political party regained a significant advantage in leaned partisan affiliation among mainline Protestants by 2010 and the current 18-point GOP edge is as large equally it's been in the last two decades.

Black Protestants remain solidly Autonomous in their partisan orientation and there has been little modify in their amalgamation over the past few decades. Today, nearly 9-in-ten (88%) identify as Democrats or lean Democratic, while just 6% say they affiliate with the GOP.

Catholics are split in their partisan preferences: Most equally many chapter with the GOP (47%) as the Democratic Party (46%). The Democratic Party has traditionally enjoyed an advantaged in leaned political party affiliation amid all Catholics, but the GOP has made gains in recent years: 2013 marked the kickoff time in well-nigh two decades that Catholics were no more probable to affiliate with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.

The shift among all Catholics toward the GOP has been driven by white Catholics. Nearly vi-in-ten white Cosmic registered voters (58%) at present identify as Republican or lean Republican, compared with 37% who identify as Democrats or lean Democratic. White Catholics are 17 points more likely to affiliate with the GOP than they were in 2008 and eight points more likely than in that location were in 2012.

Hispanic Catholics remain overwhelmingly Autonomous in their partisan preferences: Most 7-in-x (69%) place every bit Democrats or lean toward the Autonomous Party. About a quarter (23%) of Hispanic Catholics affiliate with the GOP.

The share of Mormons identifying equally Republican has edged down slightly in the final four years. Currently, about one-half of Mormons (48%) draw themselves as Republicans, while 35% say they are independents and only xiii% identify as Democrats. In 2012, when Mitt Romney was the GOP nominee for President, 61% of Mormons identified as Republicans.

On leaned party affiliation, 69% of Mormons identify as Republican or lean toward the GOP. This also marks a slight decline from 2012 when 78% of Mormons affiliated with or leaned toward the Republican Party.

Jewish registered voters continue to strongly adopt the Autonomous Political party over the GOP. Overall, 74% of Jewish voters identify equally Democrats or lean toward the Autonomous Party, compared with 24% who identify as Republicans or lean toward the Republican Party. The share of Jews who identify as Democrats or lean Democratic has grown slightly over the past few years, though the balance of leaned political party amalgamation among Jewish voters is most the aforementioned every bit it was in 2008.

Among voters who do not chapter with a religious grouping, 45% identify every bit independent, compared with 39% who identify as Democrats and just 12% who identify equally Republican.

Religiously unaffiliated voters continue to be overwhelmingly Democratic in their orientation. Nearly 2-thirds (66%) identify as Democrats or lean Democratic, compared with 25% who identify or lean Republican. In 1994, the Democratic Party held a somewhat smaller 52% to 33% border amidst religiously unaffiliated voters.