Slightly more than half of U.S. Hispanics identify as political independents, according to the results of a Gallup poll released on Monday, although a majority affiliate with the Democratic Party when partisan leanings are taken into account.
The poll showed that 51 percent of Hispanics identify as independents, while 32 percent identify as Democrats and 11 percent identify as Republicans.
When probed for a party leaning, 52 percent identify as Democrats or leaning Democratic and 23 percent identify as Republicans or leaning Republican. Another 20 percent still identified as independents with no party leaning.
Gallup noted that both sets of numbers shift more decisively in favor of Democrats among U.S. Hispanics who are registered to vote.
Forty-five percent of Hispanic registered voters identified as Democrats, while 60 percent identified as Democrats or Democratic leaning.
The poll also showed that Hispanic immigrants are much more likely to identify as independents than those born in the United States.
Sixty percent of Hispanic immigrants identified as political independents, compared with 44 percent of first-generation Hispanics and 43 percent of second-generation or higher Hispanics.
Gallup noted that each succeeding generation of Hispanics is more likely to identify as Republicans than the prior one, but all three groups show much greater identification with Democrats.
"While the GOP may make some inroads among Hispanics as they develop deeper American roots in the future, Hispanics are likely to remain a reliable Democratic voting bloc for years to come," said Gallup managing editor Jeffrey Jones.
The survey of 1,753 Hispanic adults was conducted April 16th through May 31st and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News