GOP Voter Registration Gains Could Pose Challenge for Dems

Republican gains in voter registrations in key states could pose a challenge for Democrats, reports the Hill.

In Nevada, a pivotal battleground state, registered Republicans — by the narrowest of margins — have overtaken Democrats for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The GOP has also gained voter registrations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida's Hillsborough County.

"People switch the way they vote, then they switch their registrations. And you think about Nevada and New Jersey, those are two states that saw pretty significant shifts towards the Republicans in November," said Marc Meredith, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania, Democrats hold their narrowest voter registration edge in at least a half-century. What was an advantage of 1.2 million voters in 2008, the year Barack Obama won the presidency, is now a gap of fewer than 200,000, according to state statistics.

And in Arizona, where Democrats had been closing a registration gap with Republicans for the past decade, that trend reversed after 2022 and the party again lost ground.

Trump carried Nevada narrowly in the 2024 presidential election. Data from AP VoteCast showed that self-identified Republicans and Republican-leaners outnumbered Democrats voting in that election, though self-identified party can differ from party registration.

The Nevada GOP in a statement said the "historic achievement is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and unwavering commitment of Republicans across our great state."

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