WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Liberal Democrats now make up a clear majority of their party and view universal healthcare, greater abortion access and higher taxes on the rich as essential political positions, underscoring how Democrats have moved leftward in recent years, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The finding comes ahead of a Tuesday Democratic primary in which left-wing doctor Abdul El-Sayed is vying against moderate U.S. Representative Haley Stevens for the party's nomination to run
for a Michigan U.S. Senate seat. The seat is seen as critical for Democrats' hopes of winning a majority in that chamber in the November midterm elections.
The six-day poll, completed on Monday, showed the proportion of Democrats who label themselves as “liberal” has risen to 71% from 55% in 2012, while the share who see themselves as "conservative" has dwindled from 33% to 16%.
Some 76% of liberal Democrats said increasing taxes on corporations and billionaires was an “essential” policy position for anyone who considers themselves a liberal, the poll found. Another 72% said the same about expanding abortion access, while 71% said achieving government-provided healthcare for all Americans was a necessary goal for any liberal.
STRING OF VICTORIES
Insurgent left-wing candidates this year have racked up a string of primary victories over more centrist Democrats, many of whom were backed by the party establishment. They have gone beyond New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's election last year in a deeply liberal city to vie for office in more politically divided states.
The Michigan primary is the latest example of that trend: Stevens is backed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and many top state Democrats, while El-Sayed was endorsed by liberal U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Like Sanders, El-Sayed supports Medicare for All, a plan to provide public health insurance to all Americans that has become a rallying call for the insurgent left. Stevens supports strengthening subsidies for private health insurance.
In neighboring Wisconsin, another political swing state, democratic socialist Francesca Hong appears poised to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination despite efforts by party leaders to elevate a more moderate candidate.
The winner in Michigan will face the task of reuniting Democratic voters after a bitter primary campaign that was often dominated by the candidates' differences on Israel.
Stevens supports continued military funding for Israel and has benefited from tens of millions of dollars spent by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee backing her campaign. El-Sayed has been sharply critical of Israel, which he accuses of committing genocide in Gaza, and called for a halt to all aid.
DIVISIONS ON ISRAEL
Only 16% of Democrats support military and economic support for Israel, while 57% oppose it, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll. Among liberal Democrats, more than 80% said reducing or eliminating that support was either important or essential for any liberal; only 18% said it was not important.
Some 89% of Republicans responding to the poll described themselves as conservative, a more modest shift from the 82% who labeled themselves that way in the 2012 poll. Despite their near-unanimity around how to describe themselves, conservative Republicans were less unified in identifying policy goals as "essential."
Some 56% said allowing fewer immigrants into the country was an essential view for conservatives, a goal that has been central to President Donald Trump's rise to power and years in office. Similarly, only 50% of conservative Republicans said reducing the size of the federal government was essential to being conservative -- a goal long pursued by conservative officeholders.
The poll, conducted online and nationwide, gathered responses from 4,505 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points for all respondents and 3 points for liberal Democrats and for conservative Republicans.
(Reporting by Jason Lange in Washington and Joseph Ax in New York; editing by Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)
