Mississippi is the second-most conservative state in the union, according to a poll released last week. The Republican Party, however, holds only a one-percentage point lead over Democrats in the state, which is statistically insignificant.
New Jersey surveying giant Gallup says that neighboring Alabama comes in at the No. 1 spot for conservatives, with Utah, Louisiana and Oklahoma tied for No. 3.
In a second poll asking whether individuals affiliate with Republicans or Democrats, Gallup found that whether people consider themselves to be conservative or liberal is tied to party affiliation, but it isn't a one-to-one relationship. Nationwide, only four states identify as solidly Republican in the second Gallup survey: Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Alaska.
In the Democratic column, 29 states identify solidly Democratic nationwide, including Arkansas and North Carolina in the South. In Mississippi, Republicans have a slight advantage, about 1 percent according to the poll, with 44 percent of Mississippians identifying with the GOP or leaning in that direction, and 43 percent identifying as Democrats or leaning that way. Those numbers make the Magnolia state politically competitive, along with South Carolina. Among the other Southern states, only Alabama shows a stronger tendency toward the GOP, with a 6 percent Republican advantage.
Conservatives are the largest single ideological group, Gallup reported in a June survey, with 40 percent of Americans surveyed identifying as conservative. In that poll, 35 percent said they held moderate political views and 21 percent said they were liberal.
Regionally, conservative states are clustered in the South and Midwest, with five of the top 10 most conservative states in each of those regions. The South, however, claims five of the top six spots, with Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina at Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, respectively. Utah, North and South Dakota, Idaho and Wyoming round out the top ten.
Not surprisingly, Washington, D.C. topped the list of the 10 most liberal states, followed by Massachusetts, Vermont, Oregon and Washington State. The other states in the top liberal category are New York, New Jersey, California, Hawaii and Connecticut, with regional clusters on the East and West Coasts.
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