NEW: Record Number Of Americans Are Now Registered Independents

The number of Americans who no longer identify as Republican or Democrat sits at an all-time high, according to recently released polling data from Gallup.

Nearly half of Americans, or 49 percent, are now registered independents, approximately the same number of registered Republicans and Democrats combined across the nation. The poll collected responses from 10,000 U.S. voters in 2023 and compared them against samples taken 20 years ago.

Pollsters told Axios that the trend is being driven by a growing disillusionment with the two major parties, lower levels of trust in U.S. institutions, and dissatisfaction with the status quo leadership in Washington. Gallup analyst Jeff Jones added that voters are staying independent as they age.

“It was never unusual for younger adults to have higher percentages of independents than older adults,” Jones said. “What is unusual is that as Gen X and millennials get older, they are staying independent rather than picking a party, as older generations tended to do.”

Among those still registered with parties, Republicans now enjoy a five-point margin over Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters.

But without deep wells of party faithful to draw from and an everchanging political landscape, both national party organizations could struggle with raising the funds and recruiting the volunteers needed to compete on the local and national stages.

Even if the Republican and Democratic National Committees remain competitive, they are facing historical headwinds: every national election since 2004 has seen either the White House, Senate, or U.S. House change hands with the exception of President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection. Pollsters point to antsy, dissatisfied independents as the cause.

Third-party group No Labels is hoping to capitalize on the trend in next year’s presidential election by running an independent candidate and helping him or her qualify for the majority of state ballots.

Third Way, an organization supported by Democratic donors, has called the plan a surefire way to see President Donald Trump reelected. No Labels disputes the characterization, calling their plan an “insurance policy” that in the event that “both major political parties nominate divisive presidential candidates that a majority of the country finds unacceptable.”