Poll: Most Conservative State Is Alabama

Poll Reveals Most Conservative State In The Nation

Alabama is the most right-leaning state in the country, with slightly more than half of its residents identifying as conservative, according to Gallup's "State of the States" analysis of its 2012 polling. North Dakota and Wyoming both 49 percent conservative, were tied for second.

On the left, 41 percent of D.C. residents said they were liberal, 10 points higher than in any of the 50 states. Massachusetts was next, at 31 percent, followed closely by Oregon.

Nationally, Americans were more likely to identify as conservative (38 percent) or moderate (36 percent) than liberal (25 percent), although the number of liberals ticked up slightly over the past year.

As Gallup notes, those labels aren't always a predictor of how red or blue a state is:

There is not, however, a perfect correlation between ideology and party. Three of the 10 most Republican states -- Kansas, Montana, and Alaska -- do not rank among the most conservative states. And Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas rank in the top 10 conservative states but not the 10 most Republican....There is somewhat more accordance between the most liberal and most Democratic states. Only Illinois and Maryland rank among the most Democratic but not the most liberal. Oregon and Washington state rank among the 10 most liberal states but not the 10 most Democratic.

The poll also found that 20 states are solidly Democratic, and 12 are solidly Republican.

Gallup surveyed 211,972 adults over the past year.

Before You Go

Robert Bentley (R-Ala.)

United States Governors

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