Poll: Republicans maintain advantage in state party affiliation

States that have more registered Republicans than Democrats outnumber states where the opposite is the case, according to a Gallup survey released Monday.

The survey found 21 states are solid Republican or lean that way while 14 states are solid Democratic or lean the way. Fifteen states, meanwhile, are competitive, Gallup said.

While there are more red states, there are more registered Democrats nationwide: 47 percent are affiliated with the Democratic party.

Gallup said that the classification of states is tied to the outcome of the 2016 presidential election in each state. President Trump, therefore, won all 21 solid or leaning GOP states and Hillary Clinton won all 14 solid or leaning Democratic states.

Mr. Trump won nine out of the 15 competitive states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana, Gallup says. Clinton, on the other hand, won the other competitive states: Minnesota, Maine, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada and New Hampshire.

The survey polled 177,788 adults between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016 with a 3 percentage point margin of error.