By Len Lazarick, Len@MarylandReporter.com

ANNAPOLIS -- Confirming the edge Democrats enjoy and Republicans hate, Maryland is the fourth most Democratic state in the nation, based on hundreds of polls taken this year by the Gallup organization. Maryland Democrats have a 20 point advantage.

Rhode Island, Hawaii and New York are slightly more Democratic than Maryland, but the former slice of Maryland known as the District of Columbia is the most Democratic jurisdiction in the nation.

Gallup’s tracking polls contacted 177,000 U.S. respondents from January through June and 3,571 voters in Maryland.

Gallup says it determines the partisan orientation of each state by subtracting the total percentage of adults identifying as or leaning Republican from those identifying as or leaning Democratic, thus creating a “Democratic advantage” figure.

Based on that, 54% of Maryland voters call themselves Democrats or “lean Democratic,” giving them a 20 point edge over the 34% of Marylanders who call themselves Republicans or lean Republican.

This makes Maryland slightly more Democratic than Massachusetts and neighboring Delaware. View the complete rankings here.

Except for California and Hawaii, the most Democratic states are in the East. The most Republican states are Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.