Hawaii is the most Democratic state in the nation, while the Republican Party holds the most sway in Utah, according to a Gallup Poll released Thursday.

The poll ranked the states based on the difference between the percentage of state residents who identify as, or lean, Democratic and the percentage who identify as, or lean, Republican, according to Gallup.

Democrats had a 24-percentage-point advantage over Republicans in Hawaii. While Hawaii topped the states for Democrats, it was nowhere near Washington, D.C., where the party had a 68-percentage-point advantage over the GOP. Republicans in Utah, meanwhile, had a 32-percentage-point advantage over Democrats.

The results are based on interviews with more than 170,000 U.S. adults from January through June, and each state’s data are weighted to be demographically representative of its adult population, Gallup said.

Nationwide, Democrats had a slight advantage in the first half of 2011, with 44 percent of Americans identifying as or leaning Democratic and 40 percent identifying as or leaning Republican, the polling company said.

———

On the Net:

For more information: www.gallup.com/poll/148949/Hawaii-Demo­cratic-Utah-Republican-State.aspx#1