Partisan Trends: 35.3% Are Democrats, 34% Republicans

The GOP election bounce appears to be over, with more American Adults in March identifying themselves as Democrats than Republicans for the first time since October.
 
 Now, just 34.0% of Adults consider themselves to be Republicans. That’s down three points since December and just over a point lower than a month ago. The number calling themselves Democrats rose to 35.3% from 34.3% in February.  
 

In December 2010, polling found the largest number of Republicans in the nation since December 2004 and the lowest number of Democrats ever recorded in Rasmussen Reports tracking since November 2002. See the History of Party Trends from January 2004 to the present.
 

In each of the recent election cycles, the victorious party has gained in net partisan identification over the course of the election year. It is worth noting, however, that the gains are generally short-lived. 
 

Following Election 2004, the Republican partisan decline began in February 2005. In 2006, the Democratic edge began to decline as soon as they actually took control of Congress in January. Following President Obama’s victory in November 2008, the Democrat’s advantage in partisan identification peaked in December before declining.
 

In January 2009, the month of Obama’s inauguration, 33% considered themselves Republicans, while 41% identified themselves as Democrats. 
 

Rasmussen Reports tracks this information based on telephone interviews with approximately 15,000 adults per month and has been doing so since November 2002. The margin of error for the full sample is less than one percentage point, with a 95% level of confidence.

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