23 Percent Of Republicans Defected Since Late 2015

A new Pew Research Center study showed that, during the period from December 2015 to March 2017 spanning the 2016 presidential campaign, approximately 23 percent of Republicans aged 18-29 left the GOP for the Democratic Party.

Only 9 percent of Democrats from the same age demographic switched to the Republican party. 

The demographic with the greatest share of Democratic defectors, 14 percent, was the age bracket containing people aged 50-64. 

During the survey period, fully 10 percent of Democrats from any age bracket defected to the Republican Party, and 11 percent of Republicans overall did the reverse. 

Seventy-eight percent of Republicans reportedly stayed with their party, while 79 percent of Democrats stayed with theirs. Nine percent from both parties left, then returned.

The study, which was published on May 17, also reported that those who crossed over were typically less politically involved than their more loyal counterparts.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on May 15 commented on new party loyalties after the release of a Washington Post/ABC News report that showed that 67 percent of Americans believed that the Democratic Party was out of touch with the country, according to CNN.

“I think the whole notion of parties and party identification is actually starting to shift,” said Warren on CNN.

Warren elaborated that the balance of power in the party has tipped in favor of the elite few, inciting anger among the rest.

“It’s saying, ‘Look, we get it,'” said Warren. “‘The game is rigged. It’s rigged in favor of those at the top and rigged against the rest of us. And we want some accountability on that. We want to see a government that works for the rest of us.'”

Warren acknowledged that her feelings are not universal.

“Not all my colleagues agree with me,” said Warren.

“And not everybody who’s a Democrat agrees with me. And that’s OK with me.”

Despite a majority of Democrats reportedly disenchanted by their party, Warren pointed out conflicting political moves on the part of current Republican President Donald Trump, according to Business Insider:

He’s a man who ran for office promising he was going to be there to help working people. That was going to be his No. 1, No. 2, No. 10 goal, right, all the way through. And so, what has he done? Well, first, he assembles a team of billionaires and bankers and hands the keys over to them, says to Goldman Sachs, figure out how to deregulate the economy. I mean, what could go wrong?

Sources: CNN, Pew Research Center, ABC News, Business Insider / Photo credit: Aranami/Flickr