--- title: Pew Research Center Survey Released on Multiracial Americans description: Multiracial adults are more likely than the average American to dissociate from the two major political parties, according to a new study. canonical: https://time.com/3914890/multiracial-politics-polling/ author: Alex Altman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-11T04:01:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:08:27.441Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Politics of Multiracial Americans og:description: A new survey found they are much less partisan. og:url: https://time.com/3914890/multiracial-politics-polling/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8812559cd02f1dce/698853f90b72e3f2a16e4691/multi-racial-americans.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Multi-Racial Americans og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Politics of Multiracial Americans twitter:description: A new survey found they are much less partisan. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8812559cd02f1dce/698853f90b72e3f2a16e4691/multi-racial-americans.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Politics of Multiracial Americans > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=163896a9-56f8-467f-9749-e6c13cbf8b3a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Multiracial Americans Are Young, Proud And Growing In Number [Watch (HLS stream): Multiracial Americans Are Young, Proud And Growing In Number](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/K4o8RVec.m3u8) (1:44)  _Published 2015-06-11. A new survey from the Pew Research Center highlights numerous findings indicating mixed-race Americans are growing in the United States._  by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/)  ## Alex Altman Altman is the executive features editor and deputy Washington bureau chief at TIME. Jun 11, 2015 4:01 AM UTC A new survey from the Pew Research Center highlights numerous findings indicating mixed-race Americans are growing in the United States.  by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/)  ## Alex Altman Altman is the executive features editor and deputy Washington bureau chief at TIME. Jun 11, 2015 4:01 AM UTC Multiracial adults are more likely than the average American to dissociate themselves from the two major political parties, with nearly half identifying as neither Democrats nor Republicans, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center. Pew’s survey—a comprehensive look at the attitudes, experiences and values of mixed-race Americans—found that 44% of multiracial adults identify as either political independents (28%) or “something else” (16%). Among the general public, just 36% profess no partisan leanings. The trend is particularly pronounced among young multiracial adults. More than half of all mixed-race Americans ages 18 to 29 affiliate with neither Republican nor Democrat, with 29% classifying themselves as political independents and 23% identifying as “something else.” Multiracial Americans’ diminished sense of partisanship has the potential to reshape electoral coalitions in an era of demographic change. The percentage of multiracial babies born in America has ballooned from just 1% in 1970 to 10% in 2013, according to Pew. The sense of alienation from the political process reported by mixed-race adults suggests the need for both parties to recalibrate their messaging to match a growing, increasingly nonpartisan segment of the country. It also underscores the potential for a third party to emerge as the U.S. [evolves into the majority-minority country](http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/the-avenue/posts/2014/12/12-majority-minority-nation-2044-frey) over the next three decades. Despite their heightened aversion to partisanship, multiracial Americans tend to mirror the general public’s political leanings. Adults who are mix of white and Asian, white and black or black and American Indian are all more likely to affiliate with or lean Democratic—though slightly less so than single-race whites, blacks or Asians. Of all the mixed-race groups surveyed by Pew, only Americans who are part white and part American Indian favor Republicans, 53% to 42%. That proportion is similar to the political leanings of single-race whites, who identify as or lean Republican by a 55% to 41% margin. For Pew, one of the challenges of pinpointing mixed-race Americans’ political leanings was defining the size of the multiracial population. It has only been 15 years since the U.S. Census Bureau allowed respondents to identify as more than one race, and many of those who qualify as multiracial don’t self-identify as such. As a result, Pew argues, the Census estimate that about 2% of the U.S. is mixed-race may undershoot the mark. Pew’s report found that 7% of the U.S. population could be considered multiracial, based on respondents’ answers and the races of their parents or grandparents. The Pew Research Center survey polled 1,555 multiracial adults and 1,495 members of the general public from February to April. ## Transcript My father is full black and my mother is half black and half white. My mother is American Indian, and my father is first generation American German Jewish. My father is white, and my mother is Catawba Indian. The Peer Research Center released a comprehensive report showing that multiracial Americans Americans are proud, open, and growing in numbers. 60 % of the respondents said they were proud of their mixed race background. 59 % said they were more open to other cultures. But the survey also found 55 % of multiracial Americans said they'd been subjected to racial slurs or jokes. 19 % thought that their background gave them an advantage. A majority, 76 % said it made no difference. One of the more intriguing finds by Pew was how being multi- racial affected young Americans' political partisanship. In total 52 % of mixed race Americans ages 18 to 29 Identified as either independent or something else. As time notes, the trends suggest U. S. Democrats and Republicans may need to recalibrate their political calculus. If they hope to recapture the growing caucus of mixed race Americans. It also creates the space for a potential third party to emerge. A survey which use the answer from more than 1, 500 multiracial Americans, 18 and older, cover a wide variety of social issues tied to multiracial Americans. To define who was multiracial, Pew asked survey respondents if they would select two races for themselves. [ MUSIC ] Their parents or their grandparents. That's a broader definition than the one offered by the U. S. Census Bureau which only takes into account the person being surveyed, not the family members. The U. S. Census first started allowing for multi racial answers in 2000. 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