More Floridians registered as Democrats than Republicans last month, according to data from the Florida Division of Elections, but that doesn’t mean Dems have a secure path at victory for this year’s elections.
During the month of June, the Florida Democratic Party registered close to 23,000 new voters, the majority of which came from Miami-Dade County.
The state’s net party activity saw the second-highest party registration in Broward County, which registered nearly 3,500 voters. South Florida makes up a huge bloc of Democratic voters, with over 1 million Democrats living in those counties. June's voter registration numbers are still a slide for the Democrats, who outnumbered GOP voters by 1.2 million voters 30 years ago.
In June, the Republican Party of Florida registered a slightly smaller number of nearly 19,000 voters. Most voter registrations came from the state’s largest county, Miami Dade, but nearly the same amount registered in Duval County. The remainder of registrations came from smaller counties.
Even more voters -- around 21,000 -- registered under No Party Affiliation, bringing the grand total of overall voter registrations last month to around 63,000.
So far this year, over 377,000 new voter registrations have joined the rolls as of June 31.
Historically speaking, Florida is home to a slightly higher number of registered Democrats than Republicans. For many years, Democrats vastly outnumbered Republican voters in the Sunshine State.
Democrats still slightly outnumber Republicans in Florida in terms of registered voters, with over 4.6 million registered Democrats to the GOP’s 4.3 million registered voters. That’s not a huge gap between party affiliation, though -- which means pretty much anything goes when factoring in voter turnout rates.
Another factor to consider is rising number of NPA voters. NPA voters have slowed the momentum of both main parties and are a group of voters both politicians and their strategists have had to keep an eye on in recent years. NPA voters have mostly eaten into Democratic numbers, though, rather than Republicans’, who have withstood the surge in NPA registrations.
Yet despite their higher number of registered voters in the Sunshine State, Democrats have historically had a tougher time winning elections in statewide and national campaigns. The bulk of Democrats are concentrated in South Florida, while Republican voters tend to come from all over the state, especially in Northern Florida.
Democrats have had difficulties winning statewide elections, with the state GOP dominating both House and Senate races for years.
On a national scale, Democrats have won three of the last five presidential elections in Florida, nabbing the state in 1996, 2008 and 2012.
All eyes will be especially honed in on Florida during the 2016 presidential election, which means registering voters and turning them out will be key to victory come November. Getting out the vote is a top concern for candidates, consultants, as well as both local and national parties.
This year, enthusiasm is especially high in Florida, particularly among Republicans who have flocked to the polls to vote for GOP nominee Donald Trump. The energy for Trump has been rather unprecedented for a presidential candidate, with over 28 percent of voters cast ballots in the 2016 primary election, nearly 16 points higher than the 2012 turnout rate.
RPOF chair Blaise Ingoglia noted the Trump turnout phenomenon earlier this year, saying the higher turnout rate indicates voters’ hunger for new leadership.
“Throughout this primary Mr. Trump, has generated a historic voter turnout and built an unstoppable momentum that dwarfs the efforts of the Democrats – a testament to voters’ eagerness for a new leader that will not promote the same failed policies of the last eight years,” Ingoglia said.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
