Gen X Men Like Republicans, Gen Z Women Like Democrats, More Demographic Info

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 07/28/2025) Gen X has more Republican or Republican-leaning voters than any other generation, according to Pew Research Center's demographic breakdown of voters. It found that 51 percent of Gen Xers are Republicans, 42 percent are Democrats and 7 percent are independent.

The generation with the biggest gap favoring Democrats? Gen Z. A 49 percent plurality are Democrats, 43 are Republicans and 9 percent are independents, according to the Pew Party Affiliation Fact Sheet, released Friday.

Overall, the survey found the nation was nearly split -- 46 percent at least lean Republican, 45 percent at least lean Democratic Party. The Republicans had 53 percent of men and 41 percent of women, while Democrats had 51 percent of women and 39 percent of men, which was a 3 percent drop in 2024.

Among Millennials, 47 percent were Democrats, 45 percent Republicans and 8 percent independents.

The Baby Boomers skewed Republican with 48 percent and 44 percent Democrats. Like every other generation, the number of independents edged up a percentage point or two between 2024 and 2025.

Men continue to lean Republican and women continue to lean Democrats. Gen Z men were 52 percent Republican, 34 percent Democrat and 13 percent independent. Gen Z women were 58 percent Democrat, 37 percent Republican and 5 percent independent. Gen X men were 37 percent Democrat and 56 percent Republican, while the Gen X women split at 46 percent Republican and Democrat.

Western Michigan University Political Science Professor John Clark laid out some broad explanations when told the numbers.

He said it generally comes down to what the parties are interested in championing. Those interested in national defense seem to gravitate toward Republicans, while those interested in family assistance programs lean Democratic.

Democrats are more open to recruiting women political candidates.

"A student who's starting college this fall basically does not know American politics without Donald Trump being at the center. So things that to me might seem completely out of whack, for someone who is 18 that's just how it’s always been," Clark said.

He said the political evolution of the younger generations would largely depend on what happens going forward with American politics.

He said the 2024 Trump image was more attractive to young men, while Kamala Harris was more attractive to young women.

"Whether that persists will in part depend on what happens next year and the years after that," he said.

He said generationally, people tended to think of themselves in the Republican Party or in the Democratic Party and changing minds between those was more difficult.

"Doesn't mean it can't change, but it certainly tends to be one of the more persistent attitudes that people hold across their lifetime," Clark said.

Upheaval in party dynamics was one of the reasons people could be persuaded to change parties and pointed to Trump as one of those inflection points.

Education saw a wider gap between Republicans and Democrats. People with a high school degree or less were 49 percent Republican and 40 percent Democratic, with 11 percent independent, which was largely unchanged.

People with some college but no degree were 51 percent Republican and 41 percent Democratic, with a jump from 6 percent to 8 percent independent between 2024 and 2025.

College graduates hit a 51 percent Democratic Party affiliation and a 44 percent Republican Party affiliation, with a 4 percent unchanged independent affiliation.

Postgraduate degrees saw the largest gap with 59 percent going to the Democratic Party, which was a loss of 2 percent since 2024. The postgraduates didn't go to the Republican Party, which was static at 35 percent. Instead, they went independent, pushing the number from 3 percent in 2024 to 6 percent in 2025.

Clark said the shifts between Democrats and Republicans in education and the propensity to vote was different from generations ago, when Democrats were at one time the safe bet for low-propensity voters, but that had shifted to Republicans.

"It also helps explain why the party that does hold the White House tends to do better in those midterm elections, because their voters are relatively satisfied, and voters for the other party are usually pretty irritated," he said.

Clark said he's only seen slight variations in voter demographics in the last three presidential cycles.

"What's going on with this party affiliation stuff in some ways is reflecting that 50-50 divide and, in some ways, it's also picking up sort of the short-term culture of what is going on from election to election," he said.