Democratic Party (United States)

Democratic Party officials often trace its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the conservative Federalists in 1792. That party died out before the modern Democratic Party was organized; the Jeffersonian party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Historians argue that the modern Democratic Party was first organized in the late 1820s with the election of war hero Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, making it the world's oldest active political party. Background was the seventh president (1829–1837) and the first Democratic president. The Democratic Party evolved from the Jeffersonian Republican or Democratic-Republican Party organized by Jefferson and Madison in opposition to the Federalist Party. The Democratic-Republican Party favored republicanism, a weak federal government, states' rights, agrarian interests (especially Southern planters), and strict adherence to the Constitution. The party opposed a national bank and Great Britain. After the War of 1812, the Federalists virtually disappeared and the only national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans, which was prone to splinter along regional lines. The era of one-party rule in the United States, known as the Era of Good Feelings, lasted from 1816 until 1828, when Andrew Jackson became president. Jackson and Martin Van Buren worked with allies in each state to form a new Democratic Party on a national basis. In the 1830s, the Whig Party coalesced into the main rival to the Democrats. When exactly the Democratic Party formed is still debated among historians, with many putting forth the 1828 date of the creation of a federal structure for the various Jacksonian movements as the foundation date, however, it could also be argued that the foundation of these Jacksonian groups could be the foundation date. In that case, the Democratic Party would be formed on December 23, 1823, when the Greensburg Committee read the Greensburg Resolution outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The committee consisted of five of Greensburg's most prominent political figures, the brothers Jacob M. Wise (state senator), John H. Wise (state representative and brigadier general), and Frederick A. Wise (owner and editor of the Westmoreland Republican), alongside David Marchand (state representative), and James Clarke (state representative). The Greensburg Resolution was the first published call for Jackson to run for president with the committee being the first overtly "Jacksonian" organization, dubbed the 'origin' of the Jackson movement that turned into the Democratic Party. The event that transformed the Jacksonians from just another faction of the Democratic-Republican party into a divergent political force would be the so-called "corrupt bargain" of 1824, where, despite winning the most popular and electoral votes, the House of Representatives did not confirm Jackson as the newly elected president, instead Henry Clay, who was both a candidate and the speaker of the house, whipped his supporters in congress to vote for the runner-up, John Quincy Adams, in exchange for Adams's naming Clay the Secretary of State. Jackson and his followers began to coalesce more seriously into a structured party for the next election in 1828, and the party's birth is most often marked as Jackson's campaign launch on January 8 of that year, or sometimes as four years later at the inaugural 1832 Democratic National Convention. Before 1860, the Democratic Party supported expansive presidential power, the interests of slave states, agrarianism, and expansionism, The faction that supported many of the old Jeffersonian principles, led by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, became the modern Democratic Party. Historian Mary Beth Norton explains the transformation in 1828: was the 11th president (1845–1849). He significantly extended the territory of the United States. Behind the platforms issued by state and national parties stood a widely shared political outlook that characterized the Democrats: Opposing factions led by Henry Clay helped form the Whig Party. The Democratic Party had a small yet decisive advantage over the Whigs until the 1850s when the Whigs fell apart over the issue of slavery. In 1854, angry with the Kansas–Nebraska Act, anti-slavery Democrats left the party and joined Northern Whigs to form the Republican Party. Martin van Buren also helped found the Free Soil Party to oppose the spread of slavery, running as its candidate in the 1848 presidential election, before returning to the Democratic Party and staying loyal to the Union. U.S. Civil War was a United States senator for Illinois. The Democrats split over slavery, with Northern and Southern tickets in the election of 1860, in which the Republican Party gained ascendancy. The radical pro-slavery Fire-Eaters led walkouts at the two conventions when the delegates would not adopt a resolution supporting the extension of slavery into territories even if the voters of those territories did not want it. These Southern Democrats nominated the pro-slavery incumbent vice president, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, for president and General Joseph Lane, of Oregon, for vice president. The Northern Democrats nominated Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois for president and former Georgia Governor Herschel V. Johnson for vice president. This fracturing of the Democrats led to a Republican victory and Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States. As the American Civil War broke out, Northern Democrats were divided into War Democrats and Peace Democrats. The Confederate States of America deliberately avoided organized political parties. Most War Democrats rallied to Republican president Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans' National Union Party in the election of 1864, which featured Andrew Johnson on the Union ticket to attract fellow Democrats. Johnson replaced Lincoln in 1865, but he stayed independent of both parties. Reconstruction and Redemption The Democrats benefited from white Southerners' resentment of Reconstruction after the war and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. After Redeemers ended Reconstruction in the 1870s, and following the often extremely violent disenfranchisement of African Americans led by such white supremacist Democratic politicians as Benjamin Tillman of South Carolina in the 1880s and 1890s, the South, voting Democratic, became known as the "Solid South". Although Republicans won all but two presidential elections, the Democrats remained competitive. The party was dominated by pro-business Bourbon Democrats led by Samuel J. Tilden and Grover Cleveland, who represented mercantile, banking, and railroad interests; opposed imperialism and overseas expansion; fought for the gold standard; opposed bimetallism; and crusaded against corruption, high taxes and tariffs. Cleveland was elected to non-consecutive presidential terms in 1884 and 1892. 20th century Progressive era , Woodrow Wilson, Breckinridge Long, William Phillips, and Franklin D. Roosevelt Agrarian Democrats demanding free silver, drawing on Populist ideas, overthrew the Bourbon Democrats in 1896 and nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency (a nomination repeated by Democrats in 1900 and 1908). Bryan waged a vigorous campaign attacking Eastern moneyed interests, but he lost to Republican William McKinley. The Democrats took control of the House in 1910, and Woodrow Wilson won election as president in 1912 (when the Republicans split) and 1916. Wilson effectively led Congress to put to rest the issues of tariffs, money, and antitrust, which had dominated politics for 40 years, with new progressive laws. He failed to secure Senate passage of the Versailles Treaty (ending the war with Germany and joining the League of Nations). The weakened party was deeply divided by issues such as the KKK and prohibition in the 1920s. However, it did organize new ethnic voters in Northern cities. After World War I ended and continuing through the Great Depression, the Democratic and Republican Parties both largely believed in American exceptionalism over European monarchies and state socialism that existed elsewhere in the world. 1930s–1960s and the rise of the New Deal coalition ; note the rooster logo of the Democratic Party (see Names and Symbols below) The Great Depression in 1929 that began under Republican president Herbert Hoover and the Republican Congress set the stage for a more liberal government as the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives nearly uninterrupted from 1930 until 1994, the Senate for 44 of 48 years from 1930, and won most presidential elections until 1968. Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected to the presidency in 1932, came forth with federal government programs called the New Deal. New Deal liberalism meant the regulation of business (especially finance and banking) and the promotion of labor unions as well as federal spending to aid the unemployed, help distressed farmers, and undertake large-scale public works projects. It marked the start of the American welfare state. The opponents, who stressed opposition to unions, support for business and low taxes, started calling themselves "conservatives". Until the 1980s, the Democratic Party was a coalition of two parties divided by the Mason–Dixon line: liberal Democrats in the North and culturally conservative voters in the South, who, though benefiting from many of the New Deal public-works projects, opposed increasing civil rights initiatives advocated by Northeastern liberals. The polarization grew stronger after Roosevelt died. Southern Democrats formed a key part of the bipartisan conservative coalition in an alliance with most of the Midwestern Republicans. The economically activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced American liberalism, shaped much of the party's economic agenda after 1932. From the 1930s to the mid-1960s, the liberal New Deal coalition usually controlled the presidency while the conservative coalition usually controlled Congress. 1960s–1980s and the collapse of the New Deal coalition Issues facing parties and the United States after World War II included the Cold War and the civil rights movement. Republicans attracted conservatives and, after the 1960s, white Southerners from the Democratic coalition with their use of the Southern strategy and resistance to New Deal and Great Society liberalism. Until the 1950s, African Americans had traditionally supported the Republican Party because of its anti-slavery civil rights policies. Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while Northeastern states became more reliably Democratic. Studies show that Southern whites, who were a core constituency in the Democratic Party, shifted to the Republican Party due to racial backlash and social conservatism. The election of President John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts in 1960 partially reflected this shift. In the campaign, Kennedy attracted a new generation of younger voters. In his agenda dubbed the New Frontier, Kennedy introduced a host of social programs and public works projects, along with enhanced support of the space program, proposing a crewed spacecraft trip to the moon by the end of the decade. He pushed for civil rights initiatives and proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but with his assassination in November 1963, he was not able to see its passage. Kennedy's successor Lyndon B. Johnson was able to persuade the largely conservative Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and with a more progressive Congress in 1965 passed much of the Great Society, including Medicare and Medicaid, which consisted of an array of social programs designed to help the poor, sick, and elderly. Kennedy and Johnson's advocacy of civil rights further solidified black support for the Democrats but had the effect of alienating Southern whites who would eventually gravitate toward the Republican Party, particularly after the election of Ronald Reagan to the presidency in 1980. Many conservative Southern Democrats defected to the Republican Party, beginning with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the general leftward shift of the party. , the 39th president (1977–1981) Republican presidential nominee Richard Nixon was able to capitalize on the confusion of the Democrats that year and won the 1968 election to become the 37th president. He won re-election in a landslide in 1972 against Democratic nominee George McGovern, who like Robert F. Kennedy, reached out to the younger anti-war and counterculture voters, but unlike Kennedy, was not able to appeal to the party's more traditional white working-class constituencies. During Nixon's second term, his presidency was rocked by the Watergate scandal, which forced him to resign in 1974. He was succeeded by vice president Gerald Ford, who served a brief tenure. Watergate offered the Democrats an opportunity to recoup, and their nominee Jimmy Carter won the 1976 presidential election. With the initial support of evangelical Christian voters in the South, Carter was temporarily able to reunite the disparate factions within the party, but inflation and the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979–1980 took their toll, resulting in a landslide victory for Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan in 1980, which shifted the political landscape in favor of the Republicans for years to come. The influx of conservative Democrats into the Republican Party is often cited as a reason for the Republican Party's shift further to the right during the late 20th century as well as the shift of its base from the Northeast and Midwest to the South. 1990s and Third Way centrism , the 42nd president (1993–2001) With the ascendancy of the Republicans under Ronald Reagan, the Democrats searched for ways to respond yet were unable to succeed by running traditional candidates, such as former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale and Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, who lost to Reagan and George H. W. Bush in the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections, respectively. Many Democrats attached their hopes to the future star of Gary Hart, who had challenged Mondale in the 1984 primaries running on a theme of "New Ideas"; and in the subsequent 1988 primaries became the de facto front-runner and virtual "shoo-in" for the Democratic presidential nomination before a sex scandal ended his campaign. The party nevertheless began to seek out a younger generation of leaders, who like Hart had been inspired by the pragmatic idealism of John F. Kennedy. Arkansas governor Bill Clinton was one such figure, who was elected president in 1992 as the Democratic nominee. The Democratic Leadership Council was a campaign organization connected to Clinton that advocated a realignment and triangulation under the re-branded "New Democrat" label. The party adopted a synthesis of neoliberal economic policies with cultural liberalism, with the voter base after Reagan having shifted considerably to the right. Clinton's vice president Al Gore ran to succeed him as president, and won the popular vote, but after a controversial election dispute over a Florida recount settled by the U.S. Supreme Court (which ruled 5–4 in favor of Bush), he lost the 2000 election to Republican opponent George W. Bush in the Electoral College. 21st century , the 44th president (2009–2017) In the wake of the September 11 attacks and the growing concern over global warming, some of the party's key issues in the early 21st century have included combating terrorism while preserving human rights, expanding access to health care, labor rights, and environmental protection. In the 2006 elections, Democrats regained majority control of both the House and the Senate, and in 2008, Barack Obama won the Democratic Party's nomination and was elected as the first African-American president. Under the Obama presidency, the party moved forward with reforms including an economic stimulus package, the Dodd–Frank financial reform act, and, in its biggest impact, reshaped U.S. healthcare with the Affordable Care Act. 2000s–2010s and the Obama era In the 2010 midterm elections, the Democratic Party lost control of the House as well as its majorities in several state legislatures and governorships. The 2010 elections also marked the end of the Democratic Party's electoral dominance in the Southern United States. However, the party won back the House in the 2018 midterm elections under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi. Democrats were extremely critical of President Trump, particularly his policies on immigration, healthcare, as well as his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2019, Democrats in the House of Representatives impeached Trump, although he was acquitted in the Republican-controlled Senate. 2020s and opposition to Trumpism , the 46th president (2021–2025) In November 2020, Democratic candidate Joe Biden defeated Trump to win the 2020 presidential election. Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris, was the first female and person of African and South Asian descent to become vice president in history. He began his term with extremely narrow Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate. During the Biden presidency, the party was characterized as adopting an increasingly progressive economic agenda. In 2022, Biden appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman on the Supreme Court. However, she was replacing liberal justice Stephen Breyer, thus she did not alter the court's 6–3 split between conservatives (the majority) and liberals. After Dobbs v. Jackson (decided June 24, 2022), which led to abortion bans in much of the country, the Democratic Party rallied behind abortion rights. The party only narrowly lost its majority in the U.S. House and expanded its majority in the U.S. Senate, along with several gains at the state level. In July 2024, after a series of age and health concerns, Biden withdrew from the presidential election, becoming the first incumbent president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 to withdraw from running for reelection, the first since the 19th century to withdraw after serving only one term, and the only one to ever withdraw after already winning the primaries. Vice President Kamala Harris—who became Biden's replacement on the ballot after his withdrawal from the race—became the first black woman to be nominated by a major party, but she was defeated in the 2024 election by Donald Trump. Harris lost the electoral college 312–226 (including all seven of the anticipated swing states) as well as the popular vote, becoming the first Democratic candidate to do so since John Kerry in 2004, amid what was a global anti-incumbent backlash. Current status As of 2026, Democrats hold 24 state governorships, 17 state legislatures, 16 state government trifectas, and the mayorships in the majority of the country's major cities. Three of the nine current U.S. Supreme Court justices were appointed by Democratic presidents. By registered members, the Democratic Party is the largest party in the U.S. and the third largest in the world. All totaled, 16 Democrats have served as president of the United States. == Name and symbols ==

The Democratic-Republican Party splintered in 1824 into the short-lived National Republican Party and the Jacksonian movement which in 1828 became the Democratic Party. During the Jacksonian era, the term "The Democracy" was in use by the party, but the name "Democratic Party" was eventually settled upon and became the official name in 1844. Members of the party are called "Democrats" or "Dems". The most common mascot symbol for the party has been the donkey, or jackass. Andrew Jackson's enemies twisted his name to "jackass" as a term of ridicule regarding a stupid and stubborn animal. However, the Democrats liked the common-man implications and picked it up too, therefore the image persisted and evolved. Its most lasting impression came from the cartoons of Thomas Nast from 1870 in ''Harper's Weekly''. Cartoonists followed Nast and used the donkey to represent the Democrats and the elephant to represent the Republicans. , 1904–1966 (left) and 1966–1996 (right) In the early 20th century, the traditional symbol of the Democratic Party in Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Ohio was the rooster, as opposed to the Republican eagle. The rooster was also adopted as an official symbol of the national Democratic Party. In 1904, the Alabama Democratic Party chose, as the logo to put on its ballots, a rooster with the motto "White supremacy – For the right." The words "White supremacy" were replaced with "Democrats" in 1966. Although both major political parties (and many minor ones) use the traditional American colors of red, white, and blue in their marketing and representations, since the election night 2000 blue has become the identifying color for the Democratic Party while red has become the identifying color for the Republican Party. That night, for the first time all major broadcast television networks used the same color scheme for the electoral map: blue states for Al Gore (Democratic nominee) and red states for George W. Bush (Republican nominee). Since then, the color blue has been widely used by the media to represent the party. This is contrary to common practice outside of the United States where blue is the traditional color of the right and red the color of the left. In 2010, the party introduced a new logo, with a blue capital "D" enclosed in a blue circle. It remained the party's primary brand mark, with minor changes to the shade of blue, for 15 years. In 2025, a new logo was introduced, which incorporates a white donkey facing to the right instead of the left, with three blue stars in the center instead of four, on a blue background. Jefferson-Jackson Day is the annual fundraising event (dinner) held by Democratic Party organizations across the United States. It is named after presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, whom the party regards as its distinguished early leaders. The song "Happy Days Are Here Again" is the unofficial song of the Democratic Party. It was used prominently when Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for president at the 1932 Democratic National Convention and remains a sentimental favorite for Democrats. For example, Paul Shaffer played the theme on the Late Show with David Letterman after the Democrats won Congress in 2006. "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac was adopted by Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992 and has endured as a popular Democratic song. The emotionally similar song "Beautiful Day" by the band U2 has also become a favorite theme song for Democratic candidates. John Kerry used the song during his 2004 presidential campaign and several Democratic congressional candidates used it as a celebratory tune in 2006. As a traditional anthem for its presidential nominating convention, Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" was performed at the beginning of the 1976 Democratic National Convention. == Structure ==

National committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is responsible for promoting Democratic campaign activities. While the DNC is responsible for overseeing the process of writing the Democratic Platform, the DNC is more focused on campaign and organizational strategy than public policy. In presidential elections, it supervises the Democratic National Convention. The national convention is subject to the charter of the party and the ultimate authority within the Democratic Party when it is in session, with the DNC running the party's organization at other times. Since , the DNC has been chaired by Ken Martin. State parties Each state also has a state committee, made up of elected committee members as well as ex officio committee members (usually elected officials and representatives of major constituencies), which in turn elects a chair. County, town, city, and ward committees generally are composed of individuals elected at the local level. State and local committees often coordinate campaign activities within their jurisdiction, oversee local conventions, and in some cases primaries or caucuses, and may have a role in nominating candidates for elected office under state law. Rarely do they have much direct funding, but in 2005 DNC Chairman Dean began a program (called the "50 State Strategy") of using DNC national funds to assist all state parties and pay for full-time professional staffers. In addition, state-level party committees operate in the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and Virgin Islands, the commonwealths of Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, with all but Puerto Rico being active in nominating candidates for both presidential and territorial contests, while Puerto Rico's Democratic Party is organized only to nominate presidential candidates. The Democrats Abroad committee is organized by American voters who reside outside of U.S. territory to nominate presidential candidates. All such party committees are accorded recognition as state parties and are allowed to elect both members to the National Committee as well as delegates to the National Convention. Major party committees and groups The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) assists party candidates in House races and is chaired by Representative Suzan DelBene of Washington. Similarly, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), chaired by Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, raises funds for Senate races. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), chaired by Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Andrea Stewart-Cousins, is a smaller organization that focuses on state legislative races. The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is an organization supporting the candidacies of Democratic gubernatorial nominees and incumbents. Likewise, the mayors of the largest cities and urban centers convene as the National Conference of Democratic Mayors. The DNC sponsors the College Democrats of America (CDA), a student-outreach organization with the goal of training and engaging a new generation of Democratic activists. Democrats Abroad is the organization for Americans living outside the United States. They work to advance the party's goals and encourage Americans living abroad to support the Democrats. The Young Democrats of America (YDA) and the High School Democrats of America (HSDA) are young adult and youth-led organizations respectively that attempt to draw in and mobilize young people for Democratic candidates but operate outside of the DNC. == Political positions ==

by race: 1967 to 2011, in 2011 dollars. The Democratic Party is widely described in American sources as either a centrist, or a center-left political party. Analysts including Harold Meyerson and William Galston note that many of its mainstream policy positions and prominent factions would be classified as centrist by international standards, in particular those of Europe, and they are often seen as more comparable to liberal-centrist parties (for example parties associated with ALDE/Renew or the UK Liberal Democrats) than to traditional social-democratic parties; the party also contains distinct left-wing subgroups (such as the "Squad") alongside more centrist coalitions within its broad electoral coalition. Political scientists Robert C. Sinclair and R. Jeffrey Melton described the Democratic Party as "slightly to the right of the largest Canadian party, the center-left Liberal Party". The 21st century Democratic Party is unique and differs from other parties of similar profile in its ideological orientation, in part due to its heterogenous demographic composition. In particular, the Democratic Party's ideology derives from being supported by both racial minorities, particularly African Americans, as well as white voters with high educational attainment. Higher educational attainment is strongly correlated with higher income and wealth, and also strongly correlated with increased ideological support for the Democratic Party's positions among white voters. Ideologically, the Democratic Party is more diverse than the Republican Party, according to data collected by Gallup. This derives in part from unique regional characteristics of the United States, particularly the Southern United States. Racial polarization is extremely high in the Southern United States, with black Southerners almost entirely voting for the Democratic Party, and white Southerners almost entirely voting for the Republican Party. African Americans continue to have the lowest incomes of any racial group in the United States. The Democratic Party's social positions derive from those of the New Left, that is cultural liberalism. These include feminism, LGBTQ rights, drug policy reforms, and environmentalism. The party's platform favors a generous welfare state and a greater measure of social and economic equality. On social issues, it advocates for the continued legality of abortion, and LGBTQ rights. Democrats support a progressive tax system, higher minimum wages, equal opportunity employment, Social Security, universal health care, public education, and subsidized housing. Throughout the 1970s and 1990s, the party has at times supported "Third Way" centrist economic reforms that cut the size of government and reduced market regulations, as seen through the policies of presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. The party has generally rejected both laissez-faire economics and market socialism, instead favoring Keynesian economics within a regulated capitalist market-based system. It broadly opposes right-to-work legislation and supports pro-union laws such as the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, and favors increasing the minimum wage to at least $15 per hour. However, the party is not social democratic and does not base its policies on organized labor. However, since the 2020s, it has also been distancing itself from predistributive economic policies such as job guarantees, minimum wage increases, and pro-union legislation. Historically, the Democratic Party opposed tariffs and favored free trade. However, since the 2020s, the party has moved in favor of protectionistic policies. Fiscal policy Democrats support a more progressive tax structure to provide more services and reduce economic inequality by making sure that the wealthiest Americans pay more in taxes. Democrats and Republicans traditionally take differing stances on eradicating poverty. Brady said "Our poverty level is the direct consequence of our weak social policies, which are a direct consequence of weak political actors". They oppose the cutting of social services, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, believing it to be harmful to efficiency and social justice. Democrats believe the benefits of social services in monetary and non-monetary terms are a more productive labor force and cultured population and believe that the benefits of this are greater than any benefits that could be derived from lower taxes, especially on top earners, or cuts to social services. Furthermore, Democrats see social services as essential toward providing positive freedom, freedom derived from economic opportunity. The Democratic-led House of Representatives reinstated the PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) budget rule at the start of the 110th Congress. Minimum wage The Democratic Party favors raising the minimum wage. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 was an early component of the Democrats' agenda during the 110th Congress. In 2006, the Democrats supported six state-ballot initiatives to increase the minimum wage and all six initiatives passed. In 2017, Senate Democrats introduced the Raise the Wage Act which would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024. In 2021, Democratic president Joe Biden proposed increasing the minimum wage to $15 by 2025. In many states with Democratic legislative and gubernatorial control, the state minimum wage has been increased to a rate above the federal minimum wage, usually to $15 per hour or higher. Health care into law in 2010 Democrats call for "affordable and quality health care" and favor moving toward universal health care in a variety of forms to address rising healthcare costs. Progressive Democrats politicians favor a single-payer program or Medicare for All, while liberals prefer creating a public health insurance option. Education Democrats favor improving public education by raising school standards and reforming the Head Start program. They also support universal preschool, expanding access to primary education, including through charter schools, and are generally opposed to school voucher programs. They call for addressing student loan debt and reforms to reduce college tuition. Other proposals have included tuition-free public universities and reform of standardized testing. Democrats have the long-term aim of having publicly funded college education with low tuition fees (like in much of Europe and Canada), which would be available to every eligible American student. Alternatively, they encourage expanding access to post-secondary education by increasing state funding for student financial aid such as Pell Grants and college tuition tax deductions. Environment Democrats believe that the government should protect the environment and have a history of environmentalism. In more recent years, this stance has emphasized renewable energy generation as the basis for an improved economy, greater national security, and general environmental benefits. The Democratic Party is substantially more likely than the Republican Party to support environmental regulation and policies that are supportive of renewable energy. The Democratic Party also favors expansion of conservation lands and encourages open space and rail travel to relieve highway and airport congestion and improve air quality and the economy as it "believe[s] that communities, environmental interests, and the government should work together to protect resources while ensuring the vitality of local economies. Once Americans were led to believe they had to make a choice between the economy and the environment. They now know this is a false choice". The foremost environmental concern of the Democratic Party is climate change. Democrats, most notably former vice president Al Gore, have pressed for stern regulation of greenhouse gases. On October 15, 2007, Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to build greater knowledge about man-made climate change and lay the foundations for the measures needed to counteract it. Renewable energy and fossil fuels Democrats have supported increased domestic renewable energy development, including wind and solar power farms, in an effort to reduce carbon pollution. The party's platform calls for an "all of the above" energy policy including clean energy, natural gas, and domestic oil, with the desire of becoming energy independent. Additionally, the party supports stricter fuel emissions standards to prevent air pollution. During his presidency, Joe Biden enacted the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which is the largest allocation of funds for addressing climate change in the history of the United States. Trade Like the Republican Party, the Democratic Party has taken widely varying views on international trade throughout its history. The Democratic Party has usually been more supportive of free trade than the Republican Party. The Democrats dominated the Second Party System and set low tariffs designed to pay for the government but not protect industry. Their opponents, the Whigs, wanted high protective tariffs but usually were outvoted in Congress. Tariffs soon became a major political issue as the Whigs (1832–1852) and (after 1854) the Republicans wanted to protect their mostly Northern industries and constituents by voting for higher tariffs and the Southern Democrats, which had very little industry but imported many goods voted for lower tariffs. After the Second Party System ended in 1854, the Democrats lost control and the new Republican Party had its opportunity to raise rates. During the Third Party System, Democratic president Grover Cleveland made low tariffs the centerpiece of Democratic Party policies, arguing that high tariffs were an unnecessary and unfair tax on consumers. The South and West generally supported low tariffs, while the industrial North supported high tariffs. During the Fourth Party System, Democratic president Woodrow Wilson made a drastic lowering of tariff rates a major priority for his presidency. The 1913 Underwood Tariff cut rates, and the new revenues generated by the federal income tax made tariffs much less important in terms of economic impact and political rhetoric. During the Fifth Party System, the Reciprocal Tariff Act of 1934 was enacted during FDR's administration, marking a sharp departure from the era of protectionism in the United States. American duties on foreign products declined from an average of 46% in 1934 to 12% by 1962. After World War II, the U.S. promoted the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in 1947 during the Truman administration, to minimize tariffs liberalize trade among all capitalist countries. In the 1990s, the Clinton administration and several prominent Democrats pushed through several agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Barack Obama signed several free trade agreements during his presidency while Joe Biden did not sign any free trade agreements during his presidency and increased some tariffs on China. During Republican Donald Trump's two terms as president, the Democratic Party has been more in favor of free trade than the Republican Party. Social issues was the first black candidate for a major-party nomination for President of the United States. The modern Democratic Party emphasizes social equality and equal opportunity. Democrats support voting rights and minority rights, including LGBT rights. Democratic president Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed racial segregation. Carmines and Stimson wrote "the Democratic Party appropriated racial liberalism and assumed federal responsibility for ending racial discrimination." Ideological social elements in the party include cultural liberalism, civil libertarianism, and feminism. Some Democratic social policies are immigration reform, electoral reform, and women's reproductive rights. Equal opportunity The Democratic Party is a staunch supporter of equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of sex, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, or national origin. The Democratic Party has broad appeal across most socioeconomic and ethnic demographics, as seen in recent exit polls. Democrats also strongly support the Americans with Disabilities Act to prohibit discrimination against people based on physical or mental disability. As such, the Democrats pushed as well the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, a disability rights expansion that became law. Most Democrats support affirmative action to further equal opportunity. However, in 2020 57% voters in California voted to keep their state constitution's ban on affirmative action, despite Biden winning 63% of the vote in California in the same election. Voting rights The party is very supportive of improving "voting rights" as well as election accuracy and accessibility. They support extensions of voting time, including making election day a holiday. They support reforming the electoral system to eliminate gerrymandering, abolishing the electoral college, as well as passing comprehensive campaign finance reform. Abortion and reproductive rights The Democratic position on abortion has changed significantly over time. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Republicans generally favored legalized abortion more than Democrats, although significant heterogeneity could be found within both parties. During this time, opposition to abortion tended to be concentrated within the political left in the United States. Liberal Protestants and Catholics (many of whom were Democratic voters) opposed abortion, while most conservative Protestants supported legal access to abortion services. According to the 2020 Democratic Party platform, "Democrats believe every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion." After Roe v. Wade (1973) was overturned in ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022), Democratic-controlled states and ballot initiatives were able to ensure access to abortion. The number of abortions in the United States increased after Dobbs'', due to the right to travel between states. Immigration Like the Republican Party, the Democratic Party has taken widely varying views on immigration throughout its history. Since the 1990s, the Democratic Party has been more supportive overall of immigration than the Republican Party. Many Democratic politicians have called for systematic reform of the immigration system such that residents that have come into the United States illegally have a pathway to legal citizenship. President Obama remarked in November 2013 that he felt it was "long past time to fix our broken immigration system," particularly to allow "incredibly bright young people" who came over as students to become full citizens. In 2013, Democrats in the Senate passed S. 744, which would reform immigration policy to allow citizenship for illegal immigrants in the United States. The law failed to pass in the House and was never re-introduced after the 113th Congress. Opposition to immigration has increased in the 2020s, with a majority of Democrats supporting increasing border security. In the 2024 presidential election, Trump increased his vote share in counties along the Mexico–United States border, including in majority-Hispanic counties. LGBTQ rights The Democratic position on LGBTQ rights has changed significantly over time. Before the 2000s, like the Republicans, the Democratic Party often took positions hostile to LGBTQ rights. As of the 2020s, both voters and elected representatives within the Democratic Party are overwhelmingly supportive of LGBT rights. A 2006 Pew Research Center poll of Democrats found that 55% supported gays adopting children with 40% opposed while 70% support gays in the military, with only 23% opposed. Gallup polling from May 2009 stated that 82% of Democrats support open enlistment. A 2023 Gallup public opinion poll found 84% of Democrats support same-sex marriage, compared to 71% support by the general public and 49% support by Republicans. The 2004 Democratic National Platform stated that marriage should be defined at the state level and it repudiated the Federal Marriage Amendment. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, did not support same-sex marriage in his campaign. While not stating support of same-sex marriage, the 2008 platform called for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage and removed the need for interstate recognition, supported antidiscrimination laws and the extension of hate crime laws to LGBTQ people and opposed "don't ask, don't tell". The 2012 platform included support for same-sex marriage and for the repeal of DOMA. Previously, he had opposed restrictions on same-sex marriage such as the Defense of Marriage Act, which he promised to repeal, California's Prop 8, and a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage (which he opposed, saying that "decisions about marriage should be left to the states as they always have been"), but also stated that he personally believed marriage to be between a man and a woman and that he favored civil unions that would "give same-sex couples equal legal rights and privileges as married couples". Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter along with former Democratic presidential nominees Al Gore and Michael Dukakis support same-sex marriage. President Joe Biden has supported same-sex marriage since 2012, when he became the highest-ranking government official to support it. In 2022, Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act; the law repealed the Defense of Marriage Act, which Biden had voted for during his Senate tenure. Status of Puerto Rico and D.C. The 2016 Democratic Party platform declares, regarding the status of Puerto Rico: "We are committed to addressing the extraordinary challenges faced by our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico. Many stem from the fundamental question of Puerto Rico's political status. Democrats believe that the people of Puerto Rico should determine their ultimate political status from permanent options that do not conflict with the Constitution, laws, and policies of the United States. Democrats are committed to promoting economic opportunity and good-paying jobs for the hardworking people of Puerto Rico. We also believe that Puerto Ricans must be treated equally by Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs that benefit families. Puerto Ricans should be able to vote for the people who make their laws, just as they should be treated equally. All American citizens, no matter where they reside, should have the right to vote for the president of the United States. Finally, we believe that federal officials must respect Puerto Rico's local self-government as laws are implemented and Puerto Rico's budget and debt are restructured so that it can get on a path towards stability and prosperity". Also, it declares that regarding the status of the District of Columbia: "Restoring our democracy also means finally passing statehood for the District of Columbia, so that the American citizens who reside in the nation's capital have full and equal congressional rights as well as the right to have the laws and budget of their local government respected without Congressional interference." With a stated goal of reducing crime and homicide, the Democratic Party has introduced various gun control measures, most notably the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Brady Bill of 1993 and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994). In its national platform for 2008, the only statement explicitly favoring gun control was a plan calling for renewal of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. In 2022, Democratic president Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which, among other things, expanded background checks and provided incentives for states to pass red flag laws. The Democratic Party does not oppose gun ownership. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center poll, 20% of Democrats owned firearms, compared to 32% of the general public and 45% of Republicans. Death penalty The Democratic position on capital punishment has shifted multiple times over the decades. In 1968, Attorney General Ramsey Clark, representing the Johnson Administration, asked Congress to abolish the federal death penalty. In 1972, the Democratic Party platform called for the abolition of capital punishment. In 1988, Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis's statement in the 1988 United States presidential debates that he would oppose the death penalty even if his wife were raped and murdered was seen by many viewers as callous and emotionless, and was widely viewed as having contributed to his loss to George H. W. Bush in the general election. During his presidential campaign, Bill Clinton sought to distance himself from his party's left flank through his strong support for the death penalty, including by personally supervising the execution of Ricky Ray Rector, a lobotomized African-American man convicted of killing a police officer. During Clinton's presidency, Democrats led the expansion of the federal death penalty. These efforts were manifested in the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which expanded the federal death penalty to around 60 offenses, and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which heavily limited appeals in death penalty cases. The Democratic Party platforms of 1996 and 2000 supported capital punishment outright, while the Democratic Party platforms of 2008 and 2012 warned against arbitrary application and the execution of innocents. In June 2016, the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee unanimously adopted an amendment to abolish the death penalty. The 2020 Democratic Party platform reiterated the Party's opposition to capital punishment. The 2024 platform is the first since the 2004 platform that does not mention the death penalty, and the first since 2016 not to call for abolition. However, on December 23, 2024, President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates to life in prison without parole. Torture Many Democrats are opposed to the use of torture against individuals apprehended and held prisoner by the United States military, and hold that categorizing such prisoners as unlawful combatants does not release the United States from its obligations under the Geneva Conventions. Democrats contend that torture is inhumane, damages the United States' moral standing in the world, and produces questionable results. Democrats are largely against waterboarding. Torture became a divisive issue in the party after Barack Obama was elected president. Privacy The Democratic Party believes that individuals should have a right to privacy. For example, many Democrats have opposed the NSA warrantless surveillance of American citizens. Some Democratic officeholders have championed consumer-protection laws that limit the sharing of consumer data among corporations. Democrats have opposed sodomy laws since the 1972 platform, which stated that "Americans should be free to make their own choice of life-styles and private habits without being subject to discrimination or prosecution", Foreign policy issues In foreign policy, the party supports liberal internationalism as well as tough stances against China and Russia. The foreign policy of the voters of the two major parties has largely overlapped since the 1990s. A Gallup poll in early 2013 showed broad agreement on the top issues, albeit with some divergence regarding human rights and international cooperation through agencies such as the United Nations. In June 2014, the Quinnipiac Poll asked Americans which foreign policy they preferred: Democrats chose A over B by 65% to 32%; Republicans chose A over B by 56% to 39%; and independents chose A over B by 67% to 29%. Iran sanctions The Democratic Party has been critical of Iran's nuclear program and supported economic sanctions against the Iranian government. In 2013, the Democratic-led administration worked to reach a diplomatic agreement with the government of Iran to halt the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for international economic sanction relief. , negotiations had been successful and the party called for more cooperation with Iran in the future. In 2015, the Obama administration agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which provides sanction relief in exchange for international oversight of the Iranian nuclear program. In February 2019, the Democratic National Committee passed a resolution calling on the United States to re-enter the JCPOA, from which President Trump withdrew the United States in 2018. Invasion of Afghanistan Democrats in the House of Representatives and in the Senate near-unanimously voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists against "those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States" in Afghanistan in 2001, supporting the NATO coalition invasion of the nation. Most elected Democrats continued to support the Afghanistan conflict during George W. Bush's presidency. During the 2008 Presidential Election, then-candidate Barack Obama called for a "surge" of troops into Afghanistan. Support for the war among the American people diminished over time. Many Democrats changed their opinion over the course of the war, coming to oppose the continuation of the conflict. A CNN survey in August 2009 stated that a majority of Democrats opposed the war. CNN polling director Keating Holland said: "Nearly two thirds of Republicans support the war in Afghanistan. Three quarters of Democrats oppose the war". During the 2020 Presidential Election, then-candidate Joe Biden promised to "end the forever wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East." Biden went on to win the election, and, in April 2021, he announced that he would withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11 of that year. The last troops left in August, bringing America's 20-year-long military campaign in the country to a close. According to a 2023 AP-NORC poll, a majority of Democrats believed that the War in Afghanistan was not worth it. Israel meeting with President Obama in 2013 Democrats have historically been stronger supporters of Israel than Republicans. During the 1940s, the party advocated for the cause of an independent Jewish state over the objections of many conservatives in the Old Right, who strongly opposed it. The 2020 Democratic Party platform acknowledges a "commitment to Israel's security, its qualitative military edge, its right to defend itself, and the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is ironclad" and that "we oppose any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement". During the Gaza war, the party requested a large-scale military aid package to Israel. Biden also announced military support for Israel, condemned the actions of Hamas and other Palestinian militants as terrorism, and ordered the U.S. military to build a port to facilitate the arrival of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza. However, parts of the Democratic base also became more skeptical of the Israel government. The number of Democrats (and Americans in general) who oppose sending arms to Israel has grown as Israel's war in Gaza has continued. Experts said support for Israel could have hurt Democrats in several key states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania, in the 2024 presidential election. Late in 2024, twenty Democratic lawmakers requested support for U.S. legislation that would ban arms trade with countries that hinder humanitarian aid. According to a Pew Research Center poll conducted in March 2025, 69% of Democrats have an unfavorable view of Israel, compared to 53% in 2022, before the Gaza war. By July 2025, about half of the Democratic Senate delegation was opposed to sending arms to Israel. Within the context of sympathies in the Middle East situation, a Gallup poll conducted in February 2026 showed that 65% of Democrats expressed sympathy for Palestinians, compared to 17% for Israelis. Europe, Russia, and Ukraine The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was politically and economically opposed by the Biden Administration, who promptly began an increased arming of Ukraine. In October 2023, the Biden administration requested an additional $61.4 billion in aid for Ukraine for the year ahead, but delays in the passage of further aid by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives inhibited progress, with the additional $61 billion in aid to Ukraine added in April 2024. == Factions ==

, rather than classical liberalism or economic liberalism). Historically, the party has represented farmers, laborers, and religious and ethnic minorities as it has opposed unregulated business and finance and favored progressive income taxes. In the 1930s, the party began advocating social programs targeted at the poor. Before the New Deal, the party had a fiscally conservative, pro-business wing, typified by Grover Cleveland and Al Smith. The party was dominant in the Southern United States until President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In foreign policy, internationalism (including interventionism) was a dominant theme from 1913 to the mid-1960s. The major influences for liberalism were labor unions (which peaked in the 1936–1952 era) and African Americans. Environmentalism has been a major component since the 1970s. Even after the New Deal, until the 2010s, the party still had a fiscally conservative faction, such as John Nance Garner and Howard W. Smith. The party's Southern conservative wing began shrinking after President Lyndon B. Johnson supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and largely died out in the 2010s, as the Republican Party built up its Southern base. The 21st century Democratic Party is predominantly a coalition of centrists, liberals, and progressives, with significant overlap between the three groups. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that among Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters, 47% identify as liberal or very liberal, 38% identify as moderate, and 14% identify as conservative or very conservative. Political scientists characterize the Democratic Party as less ideologically cohesive than the Republican Party due to the broader diversity of coalitions that compose the Democratic Party. The party has lost significant ground with voters without college degrees in the 21st century, in line with trends across the developed world. The realignment unfolded gradually, first with white voters in the South and Midwest, and later with voters as a whole without college degrees, except for African Americans. Democrats have consistently won voters with graduate degrees since the 1990s, including a majority of white voters with graduate degrees. Since the 2010s, the party's main demographic gains have been among white voters with college degrees, which until 2016 had been a Republican-leaning group. The party still receives extremely strong support from African Americans, but has lost ground among other racial minorities, including Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. Liberals Modern liberals are a large portion of the Democratic base. According to 2018 exit polls, liberals constituted 27% of the electorate, and 91% of American liberals favored the candidate of the Democratic Party. White-collar college-educated professionals were mostly Republican until the 1950s, but they had become a vital component of the Democratic Party by the early 2000s. According to a 2026 Gallup poll, 35% of American voters identify as "conservative" or "very conservative", 33% as "moderate", and 28% as "liberal" or "very liberal". For Democrats, 8% identified as conservative, 32% as moderate, and 59% as liberal. A large majority of liberals favor moving toward universal health care. A majority also favor diplomacy over military action; stem cell research, same-sex marriage, stricter gun control, environmental protection laws, as well as the preservation of abortion rights. Immigration and cultural diversity are deemed positive as liberals favor cultural pluralism, a system in which immigrants retain their native culture in addition to adopting their new culture. Most liberals oppose increased military spending and the mixing of church and state. As of 2020, the three most significant labor groupings in the Democratic coalition were the AFL–CIO and Change to Win labor federations as well as the National Education Association, a large, unaffiliated teachers' union. Important issues for labor unions include supporting unionized manufacturing jobs, raising the minimum wage, and promoting broad social programs such as Social Security and Medicare. This ideological group is strongly correlated with high educational attainment. According to the Pew Research Center, 49% were college graduates, the highest figure of any typographical group. and large portions of the professional class. Running as a New Democrat, Bill Clinton won the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections. They are an economically liberal and "Third Way" faction that dominated the party for around 20 years, until the beginning of Obama's presidency. They are represented by organizations such as the New Democrat Network and the New Democrat Coalition. The Blue Dog Coalition was formed during the 104th Congress to give members from the Democratic Party representing conservative-leaning districts a unified voice after the Democrats' loss of Congress in the 1994 Republican Revolution. However, in the late 2010s and early 2020s, the coalition's focus shifted towards ideological centrism. One of the most influential centrist groups was the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a nonprofit organization that advocated centrist positions for the party. The DLC disbanded in 2011. Some Democratic elected officials have self-declared as being centrists, including former president Bill Clinton, former vice president Al Gore, Senator Mark Warner, Kansas governor Laura Kelly, former senator Jim Webb, and President Joe Biden. The New Democrat Network supports socially liberal and fiscally moderate Democratic politicians and is associated with the congressional New Democrat Coalition in the House. Annie Kuster is the chair of the coalition, In the 21st century, some former Republican moderates have switched to the Democratic Party. Progressives and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during the Fighting Oligarchy tour Progressives are the most left-leaning faction in the party and support strong business regulations, social programs, and workers' rights. In 2014, progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren set out "Eleven Commandments of Progressivism": tougher regulation on corporations; affordable education; scientific investment and environmentalism; net neutrality; increased wages; equal pay for women; collective bargaining rights; defending social programs; same-sex marriage; immigration reform; and unabridged access to reproductive healthcare. The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a caucus of progressive Democrats chaired by Greg Casar of Texas. Its members have included representatives Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, John Conyers of Michigan, Jim McDermott of Washington, Barbara Lee of California, and Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota. Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Ed Markey of Massachusetts were members of the caucus when in the House of Representatives. As of 2024, the CPC is the second-largest ideological caucus in the House Democratic Caucus by voting members, behind the New Democrat Coalition. Senator Bernie Sanders has often been viewed as a leader of the progressive movement; he ran presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020. Other members of the progressive faction include the Squad. == Demographics ==

In the 2024 presidential election, the party performed best among voters who were upper income, lived in urban areas, college graduates, identified as Atheist, Agnostic, or Jewish; African Americans, LGBTQ+, and unmarried. In particular, Kamala Harris' two strongest demographic groups in the 2024 presidential election were African Americans (86–13%) and LGBT voters (86–12%). However, the vast majority of white evangelical and Latter-day Saint Christians favor the Republican Party. The party also receives strong support from non-religious voters. Age Younger Americans have tended to vote mainly for Democratic candidates in recent years, particularly those under the age of 30. In the 2024 presidential election, Harris won voters aged 18–29 (54–43%) and 30–39 (51–45%), tied among those aged 40–49 (49–49%), lost those aged 50–64 (43–56%), and narrowly lost those aged 65 and older (49–50%). The median voter is in their 50s. One of the main reasons that 18– to 29-year-old voters strongly support Democrats is that they are much less likely to be married. Harris tied Donald Trump with white voters aged 18 to 29 (49-49%) and won white women aged 18 to 29 (54-44%). Referring to the county map of the white vote, Democrats carry white voters in most of New England and the West Coast. Democrats also do well in regions with high Nordic and Scandinavian ancestry. For example, this keeps white voters in Minnesota and Wisconsin much less Republican than in other Midwestern states. Democrats are also relatively competitive among or win white voters in parts of the Northeast, Midwest, and Southwest. Democrats do particularly poorly among white Southerners, as racial polarization is extremely high in the Southern United States. • In the swing states of Georgia and North Carolina, which Harris lost by 2.2% and 3.2%, respectively, whites supported Trump 71-28% and 62-37%. Trump won white voters with college degrees in Georgia 57-43%, and lost white voters with college degrees in North Carolina 47–51%. • White evangelicals supported Trump in Georgia (91-9%) and North Carolina (87-12%), on par with African-American support for Harris in Georgia (88-11%) and North Carolina (86-12%). Of the 19 states and the District of Columbia won by Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, all except New Mexico had above-average educational attainment. New Mexico also had the lowest population density and the highest poverty rate of any state carried by Harris. Gender and sexual minorities Since 1980, a "gender gap" has seen stronger support for the Democratic Party among women than among men. Unmarried and divorced women are more likely to vote for Democrats. Although women supported Obama over Mitt Romney by a margin of 55–44% in 2012, Romney prevailed amongst married women, 53–46%. Obama won unmarried women 67–31%. According to a December 2019 study, "White women are the only group of female voters who support Republican Party candidates for president. They have done so by a majority in all but 2 of the last 18 elections". In the 2024 presidential election, LGBTQ+ voters supported Harris 86-12%, on par with African Americans. Harris lost married men (38–60%) and married women (47–52%), tied among unmarried men (48-48%), and won unmarried women (61-38%). White women with college degrees do support Democrats somewhat strongly, with Harris winning them 58-41%, likely the best modern performance with this demographic. They were one of the few demographic groups that shifted towards Democrats from 2020 to 2024. Total fertility rate is strongly negatively correlated with support for the Democratic Party. Specifically, as total fertility increased in states, Democratic vote share decreased. Since the 2010s, white Southerners have been the Republican Party's strongest racial demographic, in some Deep South states voting nearly as Republican as African Americans vote Democratic. The Democratic Party is particularly weak in the Great Plains and some Mountain states. In particular, the states of Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma have not voted for the Democratic Party since the 1964 presidential election. Montana has not voted for the Democratic Party since the 1992 presidential election. White voters have considerable regional variations. In the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris lost Southern white voters 32–67% and Midwestern white voters 40–59%. Harris tied among white voters in the Northeastern United States 49-49%, and won white voters in the Western United States 52-45%. Harris lost white voters in the country as a whole to Trump 42–57%. Harris still received higher support as population density increased. But relative to 2020, urban areas had the largest swings against Harris, suburban areas had lesser swings against Harris, and rural areas had the smallest swings against Harris. Specifically, Harris won voters in urban areas (60-38%), narrowly lost voters in suburban areas (47–51%), and lost voters in rural areas (34–64%). The urban-rural divide holds after controlling for race. However, in all three of Trump's elections (2016, 2020, and 2024), the previous correlation between lower incomes and voting for the Democratic Party was eliminated. Instead, among white voters, higher educational attainment was strongly correlated with higher support for the Democratic Party. Harris only narrowly lost white voters making $100,000 to $199,999 (49–50%), over $200,000 (48–51%), and white men with college degrees (48–50%), all on par with Harris losing the popular vote 48–50%. White men with college degrees are the highest-income demographic group. African Americans continue to be the lowest-income demographic in the United States. • Among white voters in 2024, income was negatively correlated with support for Kamala Harris. Specifically, Harris lost white voters making less than $30,000 (34–63%), those making between $30,000 to $49,999 (37–62%), and those making $50,000 to $99,999 (42–56%). Harris only narrowly lost white voters making $100,000 to $199,999 (49–50%) and those making more than $200,000 (48–51%). • Among the electorate as a whole, Harris won those making less than $30,000 (50–46%), lost those making between $30,000 and $99,999 (46–52%), won those making between $100,000 and $199,999 (51–48%), and won those making over $200,000 (52–46%). Harris's strongest income demographic was voters making over $200,000 a year. After controlling for education, there was little difference in white-voter support for Harris by annual income. Note than 54% of white voters did not have college degrees while 46% of white voters did have college degrees. Education In the 2020 presidential election, college-educated white voters in all 50 states voted more Democratic than non-college white voters, as displayed in the two maps. In the 2024 presidential election, among white voters, educational attainment was strongly positively correlated with support for Kamala Harris. Specifically, as educational attainment increased among white voters, so did support for Harris. It was not only about having a college degree or not; support for Harris continuously increased as educational attainment increased. • In particular, Harris lost white voters with high school or less 25–73%, an Associate degree 31–67%, and some college 38–61%. Harris tied with Trump among white voters with a Bachelor's degree 49-49%, and won white voters with a graduate degree 58-40%. • Harris won white women with college degrees (58-41%) and lost white men with college degrees (48–50%) by the same margin as the popular vote. Many Democrats without college degrees differ from liberals in their more socially moderate views and are more likely to belong to an ethnic minority. White voters with college degrees are more likely to live in urban areas. == Democratic presidents ==

, there have been a total of 16 Democratic presidents. == Election results ==

In congressional elections: 1950–present In presidential elections: 1828–present == See also ==