GOP ID Among Young White Evangelicals

In 2001, 55% of younger white evangelicals identified as Republicans — nearly three-and-a-half times the number who identified as Democrats, and more than double the number of Americans overall in this age group (ages 18-29) who identified as Republicans. Throughout Bush’s first term, party identification among younger white evangelicals remained relatively stable, but since 2005 the group’s Republican affiliation has dropped significantly — by 15 percentage points. However, the shift away from the GOP has not resulted in substantial Democratic gains; instead it has produced a small increase in the number of Democrats (five-point increase) and a ten-point increase in the number of independents and politically unaffiliated Americans. Republicans now have only a two-to-one advantage over Democrats among younger white evangelicals, compared with a nearly four-to-one edge in 2005 Read More