Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to report having a close friend in the other political party, according to a poll from NBC News.
According to the survey, a little more than eight in 10 Republicans, or 82%, say they have a good friend who is a member of the opposing party, whereas a bit over six in 10 Democrats, or 64%, say the same.
The numbers indicate that Republicans, at least in their personal lives, are maintaining more cross-party connections despite the increasingly polarized political climate.
Moderates appear to bridge the divide even more effectively.
Self-identified moderate Republicans are far likelier than conservative Republicans to say they have a close Democrat friend, with 87% reporting such relationships.
That figure is 8 percentage points higher than the share of conservative Republicans — 79% — who say the same.
Moderate Democrats show an even wider split with their liberal counterparts.
Seventy-eight percent of moderate Democrats say they have a close Republican friend, compared with just 57% of liberal Democrats — a striking 21-percentage point difference.
The poll also distinguishes between "core" and "soft" party voters, revealing similar gaps based on voter intensity.
Among core Republican voters, 77% report having a close Democrat friend.
But among soft Republicans, that figure jumps to 90%, suggesting that strong partisanship correlates with fewer cross-party bonds.
A parallel trend exists among Democrats.
Only 57% of core Democrat voters say they have a close Republican friend, while 73% of soft Democrat voters do.
These disparities highlight how ideological intensity — not simply party labels — shapes Americans' personal relationships.
The survey shows that factors such as age, gender, and education do not significantly influence whether voters maintain friendships across party lines.
Those variables showed only minor differences across demographic categories.
Religion, however, emerged as a notable exception.
Republicans who attend religious services frequently are slightly less likely to report having a close Democrat friend, according to the data.
Democrats who regularly attend religious services show the opposite pattern.
They are about 10 percentage points more likely to have a close Republican friend than Democrats who attend such services less often.
The findings suggest that cultural environments — including religious communities — may influence the likelihood of cross-party friendships.
Despite deep divisions in national politics, the poll underscores that many Americans still maintain meaningful relationships across the political aisle.
The poll was conducted Oct. 24-28 and surveyed 1,000 registered voters. It has a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points.
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