As we head into Election 2006, America is trending slightly towards the Democrats. Perhaps more precisely, the nation appears to be trending away from Republicans. During the month of July, Just 32.8% of Americans identified themselves as Republicans. That’s down from 33.5% the month before and just a tenth-of-a-point above the lowest level recorded over the past two-and-a-half years. These results come from Rasmussen Reports tracking surveys of 15,000 voters per month and have a margin of sampling error smaller than a percentage point.

The number of Democrats remained essentially stable—36.8% in July compared to 37.0% in June. The ranks of the unaffiliated grew to 30.4%. That’s the second highest figure since January 2004.

The number of Democrats has been consistent all year. The total range has been less than a single percentage point from a low of 36.1% in January to a high of 37.0% in June.

Republicans have suffered a loss of 1.7 percentage points since the beginning of the year.

On a net basis, Democrats now have a 3.9 percentage point advantage. July marks the third consecutive monthly gain on this measure for Democrats and it’s more than twice the advantage they had in January. The biggest advantage the Democrats have enjoyed on this measure was 4.0 percentage points in March 2004.

Please keep in mind that these figures are for all adults, not Likely Voters. Republicans typically do a bit better among Likely Voters (in fact, the two parties ended up even among those who showed up to vote in 2004).

Monthly data from January 2004 to July 2006 can be reviewed here