Poll: Most states remained Democratic in 2009

Despite gains for the GOP, most states remained Democratic in 2009, according to the latest Gallup poll.

23 states plus Washington, D.C. stayed solidly Democratic, where Democrats had a 10-point or more advantage in party identification, at the end of last year. 10 states leaned Democratic, with at least a 5-point margin but less than 10. 

While Democrats held their leads in many states, the GOP made inroads among self-identifying individuals. Democrats saw their lead shrink in 2009 in 39 states and Washington, D.C. 

Still, Gallup analysts noted that GOP momentum was not strong enough to overtake Democrats nationwide last year.

"Thus, even with the reduction in Democratic strength, the party still maintained a solid advantage over the Republicans nationally last year. It follows, then, that most states continued to be Democratic in their political orientation."

Republicans have recently claimed strong momentum heading into the 2010 midterm elections after gubernatorial wins in Virginia and New Jersey and the victory of Scott Brown in the Massachusetts special Senate election. 

But analysts said that the poll may not predict how states will vote in a general election and does not weigh the different percentages of independent voters in each state. 

The Democratic leaning states are Missouri, Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Indiana, and Tennessee.

Democrats still maintained their lead in Virginia even though its voters elected Republican Bob McDonnell as governor in Nov. 2009.

Four states, Wyoming, Utah, Alaska and Idaho were solidly Republican and Alabama was the only Republican-leaning state. 

That leaves 12 competitive states that had party-identification margins below 5 percent:

Among these 13 states, 6 tilt in a Republican direction: Montana, Nebraska, Mississippi, Texas, North Dakota, and Kansas. Six tilt toward the Democratic Party: Georgia, South Dakota, Louisiana, Arizona, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.

Gallup surveyed over 350,000 adults in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. over the course of 2009:

Gallup conducted at least 1,000 interviews in every state except Wyoming (878), North Dakota (968), Delaware (997), and the District of Columbia (632). Gallup interviewed more than 20,000 residents each in California, Texas, New York, and Pennsylvania.