Pew Research Center — Little Enthusiasm, Familiar Divisions After the GOP’s Big Midterm Victory

The US continues to veer right.

By a 57% to 39% margin, more Republicans and Republican leaning independents say their party’s leadership should move in a more conservative, rather than more moderate, direction. These views are little changed over the last four years.

And, as in the past, Democrats are more likely to say their party leadership should move in a more moderate direction (52% say this) than a liberal direction (41%). Yet the share saying the party should move in a liberal direction is now higher than it was following the 2010 midterms (41% today, up from 34%). 

To some extent these differences between the two parties are the result of compositional differences: While 58% of Republicans and Republican leaners identify as conservative, only about four-in-ten Democrats and Democratic leaners (42%) identify as liberal. 

Additionally, while about three-quarters (77%) of conservative Republicans and GOP leaners say they’d like to see the party become more conservative, a smaller majority (60%) of liberal Democrats and Democratic leaners say their party should shift to the left. Still, the share of liberal Democrats and Democratic leaning independents who want to see their party move in a more liberal direction has slightly increased from four years ago, from 50% to 60%.

Pew Research Center
Little Enthusiasm, Familiar Divisions After the GOP’s Big Midterm Victory