Religious Americans more likely to be Republican, poll shows
Regardless of age, gender, socio-economic status or geographic region, Americans who are more religious tend to identify more with the Republican Party than the Democratic Party, a new Gallup poll shows. Americans who are not religious tend to identify more with the Democratic Party.
Nearly half of very religious Americans -- those who say religion is an important part of their lives and that they attend weekly religious services -- say they are Republican or lean Republican. Just 36 percent of very religious Americans identify as Democratic or leaning Democratic, while 11 percent identify as independent.
Among moderately religious Americans, 38 percent identify as Republican, 44 percent identify as Democratic, and 14 percent are independent.
Among nonreligious Americans, 29 percent identify as Republican, 52 percent as Democrat and 15 percent as independent.
While the trend spans most demographic groups, the one exception is among African-Americans. Around three quarters of African-Americans identify with the Democratic party regardless of their religious beliefs, the Gallup survey shows.
The survey found that 41 percent of Americans call themselves "very religious," while 30 percent say they are nonreligious, and 29 percent say they are moderately religious.
The data is based on Gallup's daily tracking samples of about 15,000 people per month and has a one-point margin of error.