In a swing state like Pennsylvania, campaign organizers, activists and pundits pay close attention to the number of registered voters.
A review of the latest State Department data makes it clear that registered voters are dropping their party affiliation at the expense of registering with the Democratic Party.
The number of voters without a party affiliation has increased by more than five per cent (5.19%) since the beginning of the calendar year, meaning more than 50,000 up-to-date voters have registered.
Compare that to Democrats, who gained just over 1,300 up-to-date registrations, or 0.03%. Republicans did better, attracting almost 60,000 up-to-date registrants — a 1.7% boost since Jan. 1.
Democrats still have a 371,280-registration advantage out of 3.89 million, while the GOP trails with 3.52 million. The all-important independent bloc has topped 1.0 million, while those affiliated with other parties make up 344,000 of the state’s 8.77 million registered voters.
Looking at the race for the White House, Democrats increased their vote total in only three of the 12 counties where they ran. President Joe Biden in 2020 – Philadelphia, Erie and Lackawanna.
In five of the 12 counties — Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia — independent candidates outnumbered Republican candidates.
Counties That Voted for Biden in 2020 (12)
- Allegheny (D+19.6) | Democrats -794 | GOP +3858 | Indy +3689
- Bucks (D+4.0) | Dems -194 | GOP +3341 | Indy +2682
- Center (D+5,4) | Democrats -75 | GOP +390 | Indy +368
- Chester (D+16.8) | Democrats -925 | GOP +1858 | Indy +2724
- Dauphin (D+7,1) | Dems -433 | GOP +1109 | Indy +1525
- Delaware (D+25.9) | Democrats -1088 | GOP +741 | Indy +2224
- Erie (D+1.5) | Democrats +461 | GOP +1244 | Indy +656
- Lackawanna (D+7.0) | Democrats +295 | GOP +1279 | Indy +749
- Lehigh (D+7.5) | Democrats -131 | GOP +2086 | Indy +1649
- Monroe (D+4.8) | Democrats -9 | GOP +1038 | Indy +803
- Montgomery (D+25.2) | Democrats -2397 | GOP +2794 | Indy +3529
- Philadelphia (D+66.1) | Democrats +1864 | GOP +4646 | Indy +9392
Republicans who supported Trump by less than 10% in 2020 (2)
- Berks (R+7.5) | Democrats +430 | GOP +2028 | Indy +1759
- Northampton (R+0.1) | Democrats -1 | GOP +1868 | Indy +1365
(+/- #) boost/decrease in voter registrations since January 1
Since the beginning of the year, the Republican Party has seen a shift in party affiliation to the Republicans, with nearly 31,000 Democrats and 18,000 others changing their party affiliations, while Democrats have attracted nearly 11,000 Republicans and 15,000 others to their party — a shift in party affiliation of about 23,000 voters.
Before the last presidential election, Republicans added an additional 11,000 up-to-date voters per cycle. While that number remained flat in 2021, it rose significantly to 40,000 in 2022 and 22,000 a year ago.
The map below shows each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties with registered political parties, both major and non-major.
