Today, Gallup released the Analysis of Political Party Affiliation at the state level for 2015 – and the results are encouraging for conservatives in Maine as well as nationwide.
According to the report, “13 states’ political classifications changed between 2014 and 2015, with 11 of these shifting in a more Republican direction. The Democrats lost three states – Maine, Pennsylvania and Michigan – each of which moved from Democratic-leaning to competitive.” For the purposes of the study, competitive is defined as states in which the parties are within 5 points of each other in party affiliation.
For the first time in the 8 years of Gallup tracking, red states outnumber blue with 14 states identifying as solidly Democratic or leaning Democratic compared with 20 states identifying as solidly Republican or leaning Republican. Sixteen states remain competitive, now including Maine.
This is encouraging for conservatives across the country considering that when the poll began in 2008, Democrats enjoyed an advantage of over 10% nationwide with 35 states identifying as solidly Democratic or Democratic leaning compared with only five states solidly or leaning Republican.
According to the report, more Mainers support Republicans than Democrats and conservatives outnumber liberals 35.5% to 24.2%, giving conservatives an 11.2% advantage coming into this critical election year with so much at stake.