The Democratic Party has gained a significant lead with the American public for the first time since 2009, the year President Barack Obama took office.

After party affiliations were essentially tied from 2010-2011, Dems earned a 5 percentage point lead with Americans in 2012, with 47 percent (ironic, isn’t it) identifying with Democrats, while only 42 percent reported identifying with Republicans, according to new Gallup poll data.

With 137.3 million registered voters in the U.S., a 5 percentage point lead amounts to an almost 6.9 million voter advantage.