An Update on Party Identification in Texas
It’s time to update the figure on party identification in
Texas. In a UT-Texas Tribune poll conducted in October 2012, respondents
reported the following percentages in party identification:
As you can observe, not much has changed since the May poll,
but one wouldn’t expect much change, given the purported stability in party
identification. Interestingly, the percentage of strong Republicans increased slightly (by 1 percent), and the percentage of strong Democrats decreased slightly (by 2 percent);
weak partisans increased in both parties (Republicans by 4 percent and Democrats by 6
percent); Republican learning independents decreased by 2 percent, and
Democratic leaning independents decreased by 3 percent. The percentage of pure
independents decreased by 2 percent. If we only consider the percentage of
partisans and independents, there was little change in party identification in
Texas: 31 percent identified as Republicans; 29 percent identified as
Democrats; 37 percent identified as independents.
Perhaps the increase in weak partisans in both parties can
be attributed to the fact the October poll was conducted during the general election
campaign, when partisan feelings, especially in our polarized political
environment, are strong.
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