WASHINGTON – A new study put out by Gallup shows that for the first time in their tracking history, red states outnumber blue, with 20 states solidly or leaning Republican and 14 states solidly or leaning Democrat.
Illinois is listed among the 14 "solidly Democrat" blue states – the only one in the Midwest – with a number that has dramatically dropped since 2008, when 35 states were in the Democrat category and five Republican.
But the study also shows political tension in blue Illinois, with more self-identified conservatives than liberals.
Gallup considers states to be solidly favoring one party when they have a greater-than 10-percentage-point advantage over the other in party affiliation among the state's adult population. "Leaning" states are those in which one party has an advantage of more than five points but less than 10 points. Competitive states show the parties within five points of each other.
Illinois shows a 10.8 point Democrat advantage.
But while Illinois is solidly Democrat, it is not solidly liberal in political philosophy. Actually, Gallup's polling shows Illinois with five percent more conservatives than liberals.
The stats show 31.0% of Illinoisans say they are "conservative," 25.9% identify as "liberal," and 37.2% consider themselves "moderate."
The rest of the study is HERE.
The fact that there are more conservatives than libs in Illinois is an obvious tribute to the terrific journalism and analysis here at IR. Way to go!
I think one of the inherent problems with these polls is that people may ‘self identify’ as one thing, but vote another. This country has moved hard left through the years and is inundated with leftist politicians, but polls indicate the majority of Americans still identify themselves as Conservative.
The map doesn’t mean a whole lot, but it’s right except is actually shorts the Republican. Louisiana, Kentucky, and possibly Georgia are definitely Republican locks.
Also, Gallup shorted the Republicans out of Texas, Mississippi, Nebraska, and West Virginia. Those are obviously NOT lean Republican states by any means of the imagination.