Only 31% of Americans Call Themselves Democrats

The number of people who consider themselves Democrats has plunged to its lowest level in more than two decades, to just 31%, according to a Gallup analysis of several polls. That ties the lowest score the donkeys have ever received since Gallup began polling in 1988—and a big drop from two years ago, when 36% called themselves Democrats amidst Barack Obama’s presidential run.

But only 29% of voters actually identify themselves as Republicans, a tiny increase. “Even as Republicans were enjoying great electoral success, the percentage of Americans identifying with the GOP barely increased,” the pollster noted. “The major movement … seems to be away from the Democratic Party and toward independent.” Indeed, the number identifying themselves as independent shot to 38%. The last time it was that high just happens to have been 1994—when Republicans scored a similar midterm coup. (More poll numbers stories.)