More Democrats than Republicans registered to vote in Florida in May, driven by women and Hispanics, according to state registration data released early by the Democratic Party.
Democrats said they registered 5,108 more voters in May than the Republican Party did, the fourth month in a row the party has led the GOP in new registrations.
The party released the favorable figures ahead of the state, which typically lags in its reporting of the data on its website.
In Flagler County, the numbers are reversed: Republicans, who’d relinquished their lead in July 2008, took it back in January, and have widened it since, to a full percentage point difference (36.7 to 35.7 percent), though the biggest winner–as in the rest of the state–is the independent column. The ranks of Flagler County independents grew to almost a quarter of the electorate, the highest proportion ever, and to 28 percent when minor parties are included. (See the table below.)
Republican registrations in Flagler County may be swelling in part because the Aug. 14 primary will be contested most heavily by Republicans. Many Democrats register Republican to have a voice, then cross back before the general election. In two races contested only by Republicans, independents and Democrats would have been able to cast ballots, but the presence of write-in candidates in those races have closed those primaries, perhaps encouraging further migrations to Republican ranks by voters looking to have a say in those elections.
In the rest of the state, the most recent official tally on the state’s elections website, from April, showed 4.5 million registered Democrats in the state and just under 4.1 million registered Republicans.
But when the May state data is released, the larger story is likely to continue to be that independents are outpacing both parties in recent registration statewide.
The official April state registration report, the last available from the Division of Elections, shows Democrats registered just over 7,000 new voters that month compared to about 4,000 new Republicans.
But the number of no-party voters increased by nearly 15,000 in April, according to state figures, more than double the number of new Democrats. Another 500 or so new minor party voters registered. State figures in April showed 2.3 million Florida voters registered with no party and 342,000 with minor party affiliations.
The GOP regularly dismisses registration figures as meaningless because of the large amount of cross-over voting, particularly in north Florida where many Democrats often vote for Republican candidates.
Democrats, on the other hand, say national politics have pushed women and Hispanics toward the party and also say Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s generally low popularity numbers have helped registration efforts. Democrats say the state figures for May will show their party with a 12 percent registration advantage among Hispanics and a 14 percent advantage among women.
Registration closes July 16 for voters who want to vote in the Aug. 14 primary election. Voters can continue to register until Oct. 9 to be eligible to vote in the Nov. 6 general election.
–News Service of Florida and FlaglerLive
Flagler County Voter Registration, 2003-2020
| Oct. 2003 | 38.7% | 41.5% | 17.8% | 2% | |
| March 2004 | 38.9% | 41.1% | 18.1% | 1.9% | |
| March 2005 | 37.9% | 40.6% | 19.4% | 2.1% | |
| March 2006 | 37.3% | 39.9% | 20.3% | 2.6% | |
| March 2007 | 37.0% | 39.1% | 21.1% | 2.8% | |
| March 2008 | 37.5% | 37.8% | 21.5% | 3.2% | |
| July 2008 | 37.8% | 37.6% | 21.3% | 2.8% | |
| March 2009 | 38.1% | 36.4% | 22.1% | 3.4% | |
| March 2010 | 37.6% | 36.0% | 22.8% | 3.7% | |
| March 2011 | 36.9% | 35.9% | 23.2% | 4% | |
| March 2012 | 35.8% | 36.6% | 23.6% | 3.9% | |
| Oct. 2012 | 35.3% | 37.1% | 24.7% | 2.9% | |
| Florida, May 2012 | 40.2% | 36.3% | 23.5% | ||
| March 2013 | 34.9% | 37.2% | 25% | 2.9% | |
| March 2014 | 34.2% | 36.59% | 26.4% | 2.8% | |
| March 2015 | 33.2% | 36.2% | 27.7% | 2.8% | |
| February 2016 | 32.3% | 38.2% | 27% | 2.5% | |
| Florida, January 2016 | 37.8% | 35.1% | 24.2% | 2.9% | |
| October 2017 | 31.2% | 40.6% | 27.8% | 0.4% | |
| October 2018 | 30.9% | 41.2 | 27.2% | 0.7% | |
| October 2019 | 24.8% | 41.7% | 26.8% | 0.9% | |
| October 2020 | 30.6% | 43.6% | 24.4% | 1.4% | |
| Florida, October 2020 | 36.7% | 35.8% | 26% | 1.5% |
question says
Lived in many areas coast to coast, and between:
low wages, # of jobs
guns
Confederate flags
‘Stand your ground’ utilization
widespread 1950’s teavangelical citizenry
legal child abuse known as ‘discipline’
etc, etc.
NONE can touch Flagler County as poster child for the far right. So no, not at all surprised by our far right bona fides.
[also, for another day, very much doubt there are wide-spread “Independents.” Upon asking them to explain their reasoning…most often pure Republican]
SAW says
Republicans only need to put Marco on the ticket and Florida will be a slam dunk regardless of the registration numbers.
Let’s just hope not too many dead people show up to vote, and that we get a fair election.
Maryjoe says
“Many Democrats register Republican to have a voice, then cross back before the general election.”
And they complain about write in candidates? Gimme a break.
tulip says
@ MARYJOE—–so they want to vote for the person they think is best and not what the party affiliation is–nothing wrong with that. Maybe that’s why an ever increasing amount of people are registering as Independents.
Nanci Whitley says
Independents can’t vote in the primary.
Dorothea says
@SAW
If the Ronald Reagan Club keeps up with their political dirty tricks, I seriously doubt that many Flagler County voters will change their presidential choice to support the tea party poster boy, Marco Rubio. Don’t kid yourself about Latino voters in Florida, they are not stupid and they are not monolithic; only 3% of them are Cuban-Americans.
Think first, act second says
Dorothea,
You figures on the Cuban influence of the latinos is wrong. 3% of the latino American population nationwide are cuban, but 32% of the latino Florida voters are from cuban origin. There are many more voters up for grabs with Rubio than you are trying to convince people on this blog that there are. 28% are Puerto Rican and 9% are Mexican, according to the Washington Post, who I believe more than your figures.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/floridas-latino-vote-is-up-for-grabs/2012/01/27/gIQAQ6jaWQ_story.html
tulip says
@ DOROTHEA It’s also possible that people will change their party just to vote against Ericksen & Wadsworth who are the Ronald Reagan Club candidates. Those 2 races will be decided in the primary. A far as changing party to support Rubio IF he is the running mate, I think people will be smart enough to know that we’re voting for the President and the VP has little to do with running the country.
Between a sheriff candidate being sued by his opponents manager, who probably has cost that candidate, any chance of winning and is stupidly taking the case back to court, The RR club with it’s unethical practices, campaign signs being ruined or stolen, the lying and backstabbing, I don’t feel to proud of this county right now.
Dorothea says
@Tulip
While I agree with your comment, I was pointing out to SAW, who seems to think that tea party backed, extreme right wing Rubio, should he become Romney’s running mate, would change any Florida voter’s presidential choice from Obama to Romney. My comment was not about changing political parties.
Dorothea says
@Think First:
You are correct, my stats on Cuban-American voters were nationwide. However, the rest of the Washington Post article can pretty much be summed up in its final paragraph. The article still makes SAW’s contention incorrect that Rubio would make Romney a “slam dunk” in Florida if he is Romney’s VP choice:
From the Washington Post article:
“In other words, Florida’s Hispanic Republican voters may give Romney a boost on Tuesday, but given Florida Latinos’ flip to the Democrats’ side — and the state’s 457,000 additional Hispanic voters who consider themselves independent of the two parties — the numbers show that this is still anyone’s race.”