As the Democratic Party prepares to open its national convention in Chicago and nominate Vice President Kamala Harris for president, here are 10 key facts about the roughly half of registered voters who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, according to Pew Research Center data.
How we did this
This Pew Research Center analysis focuses on Democrats’ demographic characteristics and key political attitudes ahead of the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
The public opinion data in this analysis comes from several recent Center surveys. Links to these surveys, including details about their methodologies, are available in the text.
The racial and ethnic composition of Democratic voters has changed a lot in recent decades. More than four-in-ten Democratic voters (44%) are Hispanic, Black, Asian, another race or multiracial. This is roughly double the share in 1996 (23%).
By comparison, while Republicans are also more racially and ethnically diverse than in the past, the change among Republicans is less pronounced. About eight-in-ten Republican voters (79%) are non-Hispanic White.
The share of Democratic voters with at least a four-year college degree has roughly doubled since the 1990s. The increase in voters with a college degree has been sharper among Democrats than among Republicans.
Today, 45% of Democratic voters have at least a bachelor’s degree, up from 22% in 1996. Among Republicans, the change has been more modest: 35% of GOP voters have at least a four-year college degree, compared with 27% in 1996.
White Americans without a four-year degree made up a majority of Democratic voters in the 1990s. Today, they account for just 26%.
Related: 10 facts about Republicans in the U.S.
Religiously, nearly half of Democratic voters (46%) identify as something other than Christian. Like the broader U.S. population, registered voters have become less religious and less Christian in recent decades. These changes have been much more evident among Democratic than Republican voters. The share of Democratic voters who are religiously unaffiliated has roughly doubled since 2008, from 18% to 38%.
Just a few decades ago, Christians made up an overwhelming majority of Democratic voters. Today, slightly more than half of Democrats (54%) are Christian, while 46% are not.
Harris draws more support from Democratic voters – and considerably more strong support – than President Joe Biden did. Nine-in-ten Democratic voters say they would vote for Harris if the election were held today, including 58% who strongly support her. Another 5% of Democratic voters favor independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and 4% favor former Republican President Donald Trump, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Shortly before he withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, Biden drew support from 79% of Democratic voters. And only about a third of Democratic voters (35%) said they supported him strongly. That is 23 percentage points lower than Harris’ current level of strong support among Democratic voters.
Most Democratic voters (66%) say they are“extremely” motivated to vote this fall.This is 10 points higher than the share who said this in early July.
Over the same period, there has been a similar increase in the share of Republican voters who say they are extremely motivated to vote, from 59% in July to 68% today.
Majorities of Democrats say gun violence, health care costs and partisan gridlock are major national problems. In a May 2024 survey of U.S. adults (not just registered voters), 68% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said gun violence is a very big problem in the country today. The affordability of health care, the ability of parties to work together and climate change also ranked among the most serious national problems for Democrats.
By comparison, Republicans are far less likely than Democrats to view several of these issues as major problems.
Democrats continue to favor an active federal government. Americans are evenly divided in their preferences for the size of government. Around half (49%) say they favor a smaller government that provides fewer services, while about as many (48%) favor a bigger government with more services.
Democrats’ preference for a bigger, more active government has been evident for decades. But the share of Democrats who prefer a bigger government that provides more services has increased from 59% in 2015 to 74% today.
Most Democrats (76%) also say the government should do more to solve problems. Just 23% say it is doing too many things that are better left to individuals and businesses.
While Democrats broadly support the federal government providing more services, their level of trust in the federal government – like the public’s overall – has decreased sharply since the 1970s. Only about a third of Democrats (35%) say they trust the federal government just about always or most of the time. Still, that is roughly three times the share of Republicans who say this (11%).
Democrats overwhelmingly say abortion should be legal. Among the U.S. public overall, 63% say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, up 4 points since 2021.
While Democrats have long supported legal abortion, the share who say it should be legal in all or most cases has increased over the past decade, from 65% in 2014 to 85% today. By 73% to 8%, Democrats also say medication abortion should be legal in their state. Opinions of medication abortion among Republicans are more divided: 37% say it should be legal in their state, 32% say it should be illegal and 30% aren’t sure.
Democrats’ views of the Supreme Court have grown much more negative. The share of Democrats who have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court plummeted after it overruled the Roe v. Wade decision in 2022, which had guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion for nearly 50 years.
Today, just 24% of Democrats have a favorable opinion of the court – among the lowest ratings from either party over the past 30 years.
A majority of Democrats also say the court is too powerful. Currently, 62% say this, up from 40% shortly before the court overturned Roe.
Democratic hostility toward the Republican Party has risen in recent decades. Over the past several decades, both Republicans and Democrats have become more likely to view the opposing party very unfavorably: 55% of Democrats say this about the Republican Party, up from just 17% three decades ago.
Democrats also overwhelmingly dislike Trump. Currently, 92% of Democrats express an unfavorable opinion of the former president, including 78% who view him very unfavorably.
