Democrats today are more likely to say they want their party to become moderate than they were four years ago, according to a Gallup poll published Thursday.
The survey, conducted in the first week of President Trump’s second term, gauges partisan preferences on the ideological direction of respondents’ respective parties.
Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 45 percent say they want their party to become more moderate, while 29 percent say they want the party to become more liberal, and 22 percent say they want the party to stay the same.
That represents a significant shift from four years ago, during the first week of President Biden’s term in office, when Gallup last asked the question.
In that 2021 survey, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents were almost evenly divided: 34 percent wanted the party to become more moderate, 34 percent wanted the party to become more liberal, and 31 percent said they wanted the party to stay the same.
Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, meanwhile, are now more content with the status quo than they were four years ago, just weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Four years ago, 40 percent wanted the Republican Party to become more conservative, while 34 percent wanted it to stay the same, and 24 percent wanted the GOP to become more moderate.
The new survey of 1,001 adults was conducted on Jan. 21-27, 2025, and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
