Poll: 58 Percent Say Democrats Too Radical As 'Very Liberal' Wing Quadruples Since 1999

New data aired on CNN this week confirms something that has been building inside the Democratic Party for years. Its ideological center of gravity has shifted left in measurable ways.

CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten walked viewers through the trend while discussing recent primary results and the broader direction of the party.

An all-time high, 58%, of voters say the Dem Party is too liberal.

This comes as 1-in-3 Democrats think of themselves as Democratic Socialists!

And the % of Dems who say they're very liberal has quadrupled since 1999.

NJ-11, NYC mayor & Bernie Sanders are no aberration. pic.twitter.com/J0xuskHgn6
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) February 12, 2026

Enten began by contrasting today’s Democratic coalition with the party of the late 1990s.

You know, there used to be a lot of conservative Democrats. Right back in 1999, 26% of Democrats self-identified as conservative. Just 5% said that they were very liberal. It was a smidgen, a smidgen, a smidgen. Now that the far left has gained considerably in power. … Now we’re talking about a fifth of Democrats. 21% say they’re very liberal. That conservative part of the Democratic Party, adios amigos, goodbye, just 8%.

That is not rhetorical spin. It is a quarter-century shift inside the party itself.

Enten continued that when those identifying as “very liberal” are combined with those who say they are “somewhat liberal,” roughly three in five Democrats now fall on the liberal side of the ideological spectrum.

The change is even more pronounced among younger voters. According to Enten, 42 percent of Democrats under 35 identify as Democratic Socialists, while roughly one-third of all Democrats do the same.

That shift inside the party appears to be registering with the broader electorate. Enten concluded:

In 1996, it was 42%. In 2013, it was 48%. Now, 58% in 2025 of all voters say that the Democratic Party is too liberal.

A majority of voters now say the party has moved too far left.

Gallup’s long-term ideological tracking reinforces that conclusion. In its latest annual summary, Gallup notes that liberal identification among Democrats has climbed steadily over time.

Changes in ideological identification are mainly apparent among Democrats — 59% now identify as liberal, up from 33% in 2005 and 25% in 1994.

At the same time, the broader electorate remains more ideologically mixed, with conservatives still outnumbering liberals nationally.

The internal shift inside the Democratic Party, however, is unmistakable.

Outside coverage has underscored the magnitude of the change. As one report summarized Enten’s analysis, the “far left has gained considerably in power,” with the once small “very liberal” faction now representing a significant share of the Democratic base

Want to Live in Zohran Mamdani's Apt. After He Moves Into Mayor's Mansion? It Will Reportedly Cost You.

Taken together, the numbers point to a party that is materially different from what it was in the 1990s or even the mid 2000s. What was once a coalition that included a sizable bloc of self-described conservative Democrats has evolved into one where liberal and very liberal voters dominate, and one where Democratic Socialist identification is no longer fringe.

Whether that shift energizes the base or alienates swing voters is a political question that will play out in upcoming elections. But the data itself is not ambiguous. The Democratic Party has moved left — and 58 percent of voters now say it has simply moved too far.

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