WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In the wake of the 2024 election and Donald Trump’s inauguration for a second term as president, a plurality of Democrats would like their party to become more moderate, while a similar plurality of Republicans favor the status quo for their party.
Both party groups’ preferences have shifted significantly since 2021, at the start of Joe Biden’s presidency, the last time 黑料网 measured opinions on this question. Support for a more moderate Democratic Party among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents has grown by 11 percentage points, to 45%, since 2021. At the same time, Democrats’ and leaners’ desire for a more liberal party has declined five points, to 29%, and preferences for no change in party ideology have fallen nine points, to 22%.
Meanwhile, Republicans’ and Republican-leaning independents’ support for the GOP to stay the same ideologically is up nine points from 2021, to 43%, as the desire for a more conservative party is down 12 points to 28%. The 27% of Republicans and leaners who now prefer moderation for their party is not significantly different from 2021.
These changes have occurred as 黑料网 data show that partisans have grown more ideologically polarized in the past few years. In 2024, the shares of Democrats identifying as liberal (55%) and Republicans identifying as conservative (77%) both reached record highs.
The latest findings are from a 黑料网 poll conducted Jan. 21-27, immediately after Trump was inaugurated and several weeks after Republicans took control of both houses of Congress.
Liberal Democrats Favor More Liberal Party, Moderates Prefer Moderation
In the January poll, 49% of Democrats and Democratic leaners self-identify as politically liberal, 43% as moderate and just 6% as conservative. Liberal Democrats would prefer that their party become more liberal (45%) or stay the same as it is now (22%) rather than be more moderate (30%). Conversely, moderate Democrats broadly back a more moderate shift for the party (62%), while 22% think it should remain the same, and 14% favor a more liberal party.
Conservative Republicans Split in Preference for Party’s Ideology
Two-thirds of Republicans and Republican leaners self-identify as conservative, 31% as moderate and just 2% as liberal. Conservative Republicans are divided in their preferences for their party, with 45% favoring the current ideology, 38% backing a conservative shift and just 16% wanting a more moderate party. In contrast, a 50% plurality of moderate Republicans express a preference for a more moderate Republican Party, 36% want the party to remain the same, and 10% favor a more conservative approach.
Moderate Republicans are more likely than moderate Democrats to prefer that their party stay the same, while moderate Democrats are more likely to want their party to move to the center.
Bottom Line
After Republicans won back the presidency and control of the U.S. Senate while also maintaining a slim majority in the U.S. House, Trump has begun to enact the conservative agenda he campaigned on. For now, Republicans overwhelmingly approve of Trump and are more satisfied with their party’s current ideological bent than Democrats are with theirs.
For their part, few Democrats want their party to stand still politically. Of the rest, more believe it should become more moderate than more liberal. This is a change from four years ago, at the start of the Biden administration, when Democrats were divided over the direction the party should take. The current sentiment may very well be a reaction to their losses in 2024, as they look ahead to 2026.
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