Poll: Identification as ‘Liberal’ Collapses as Blacks, Hispanics, and Non-College Voters Flee the Label

Matthew VadumAugust 19, 2022

Fewer voters now identify themselves as liberal, according to a new national poll.

“The Left is losing the battle for the minds of the American electorate … with voters decreasingly identifying as liberal in recent years,” says the report (pdf) by Morning Consult, a research firm with offices in Washington, New York, and San Francisco.

The enterprise describes itself as “a global decision intelligence company delivering insights and custom market research on what people think in real-time.”

The ongoing annual poll is based on research on 8.6 million voters since 2017.

The segment of the U.S. electorate that now identifies itself as “very liberal,” “liberal,” or “somewhat liberal” has declined over the past five years, falling from 34 percent to 27 percent.

Among voters, 39 percent now describe themselves as “very conservative,” “conservative,” or “slightly conservative.” Five years ago, 38 percent of voters embraced the conservative label.

Moderates are now 28 percent of the electorate, a 4-point increase since 2017.

The figure for those uncertain about their political ideology now hovers at 7 percent, up from 3 percent a half-decade ago.

The collapse in support for liberalism is driven largely by voters who lack a college degree and by blacks and Hispanics who are moving away from the “liberal” identifier faster than white voters.

“While the nonwhite shift is pronounced by education, black and Hispanic voters with a college education have also become less likely to identify as liberal in recent years,” the report says.

“Beyond educational differences, age also appears to play a role in the recession of liberalism.

“The share of young people—ages 18-34—who identify as liberal has dropped more than the other age groups, followed by smaller declines among voters ages 35-44, 45-64, and those 65 or older, in that order.

“Among each age group, Black and Hispanic voters