Shift In Party Preferences During 2021 Gives GOP Biggest Lead Since 1995

The GOP is holding its largest lead in voter preference since 1995 as Republicans overtook Democrats as the American preferred political party at the end of 2021.

Republicans held a 47-42 lead in voter identification at the end of 2021, according to a Gallup Poll released Monday, a stark difference from the beginning of the year, when Democrats held a 49-40 edge in the metric.

A lead in voter preference by Republicans has been unusual since Gallup first began asking voters in 1991. The last GOP lead of this size, at the beginning of 1995, was not long after the GOP regained control of the House for the first time in decades.

Gallup noted that the party preferences shifted on track with President Joe Biden’s approval rating which started high in January 2021 but has steadily declined amid the pandemic, the military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the border crisis, and rising inflation.

Despite the country gravitating towards the GOP throughout 2021, Democrats still held a net advantage over the average of all four quarters of the year. That advantage has been consistent since Gallup began posing the question to voters in 1991, with that first year being the lone time Republicans enjoyed more support than Democrats over the course of an entire year. The parties garnered roughly equal support from 2001-2003 and again in 2010-2011.

Gallup surveyed 12,416 adults living in the U.S. throughout 2021, with the poll having a margin of error of plus or minus one percentage point.