Share of U.S. political independents hits record high: analysis

The share of political independents in the United States reaches 39 percent, a new record high in more than 75 years, found a new analysis by the Pew Research Center.

As the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign kicks into high gear, U.S. political independents could well decide who will be the next U.S. president as they outnumber either Democrats or Republicans.

In 2014, 39 percent of the U.S. public identified as independents, compared to 32 percent calling themselves Democrats and 23 percent calling themselves Republicans, according to the Pew Research Center analysis that examined U.S. partisan affiliation from 1992 to 2014.

However, a substantial majority of independents have not fully declared their independence from the two major parties, the Democratic and Republican parties, it found.

Seventeen percent of Americans lean toward the Democratic Party while 16 percent lean toward the Republicans, only 6 percent declined to lean toward any party.

Partisan leaners don't have especially positive views of the party they lean toward, yet they feel very negatively about the opposing party, found the study.

Forty-five percent of Democratic leaners give a warm rating to Democrats, while 38 percent of Republican leaners feel warmly toward Republicans.

Nevertheless, partisan leaners share many of the political values of -- and tend to vote similarly to -- members of party they lean toward.

It was also found that U.S. partisan animosity has increased sharply among U.S. independents.

For the first time in more than two decades, majorities of Republicans (58 percent) and Democrats (55 percent) say they have a very unfavorable view of the opposing party, according to the analysis.

In 1994, fewer than half as many Republicans (21 percent) and Democrats (17 percent) expressed highly negative views of the other party. Endit