Poll: RI is most liberal state

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Move over, Massachusetts. Back off, Vermont. A new poll says Rhode Island has the most liberal population of the 50 states.

A total of 32 percent of Rhode Islanders described themselves as politically liberal in a Gallup poll of 90,942 Americans conducted over the first six months of this year.

The only place with more liberals than Rhode Island was Washington, D.C., where 42 percent of residents said they were lefties. They were the only two places where liberals outnumbered conservatives, although the margin of error for D.C. is much higher.

After the nation’s capital and the Ocean State came Connecticut and Vermont, tied with 29 percent of residents being liberals, and Massachusetts, with 28 percent.

Still, more Rhode Islanders described themselves as moderates – 36 percent – than liberals. Conservatives made up the remaining 29 percent.

Massachusetts had more moderates than Rhode Island, at 40 percent, and about the same share of conservatives, at 30 percent.

Interestingly, the most conservative states in the nation – Wyoming and Mississippi – have many more conservatives than the most liberal state has liberals.

In both those red states, 53 percent of residents described themselves as conservative, a 17-point difference from Rhode Island’s 32 percent share of liberals.