Dems keep gaining edge in registration
Continuing more than a decade's-long process, Montgomery County Democrats continued to cut into their Republican counterpart's edge in voter registration.
County Democrats have sliced the 1.17-to-1 edge in voter registration held by the county GOP at the time of the May primary elections to 1.14 Republicans for every single registered Democrat eligible to vote in next month's elections, according to registration tallies released this week by the county voters registration office.
Of the 6,992 newly registered voters since the primary elections, 3,208 registered as Democrats while 1,958 registered Republican and another 1,612 registered non-partisan.
Also, 1,718 of the county's previously registered voters switched their registrations to Democratic since the May primary elections. In contrast, 709 re-registered Republican while another 568 re-registered non-partisan, according to a report prepared by county voter services Assistant Director Patricia Allen. Advertisement
The final piece of good news for Democrats is that West Conshohocken bounced back to the Democratic side — by just one vote, 431 Democrats to 430 Republicans.
This puts 13 of the county's 62 municipalities in the "D" column. The other 12 include Ambler, Bridgeport, Conshohocken, Jenkintown, Narberth, Norristown, Pottstown, Abington, Cheltenham, Lower Frederick, Lower Merion and West Pottsgrove.
Overall, the county has 546,568 voters eligible to vote next month including 247,766 Republicans (45.3 percent), 217,052 Democrats (39.7 percent) and 70,807 non-partisans (12.95 percent).
"The only numbers I really care about right now are those on Nov. 6 (Election Day)," said county GOP Chairman Ken Davis.
Davis blamed much of the county GOP's registration problems on national politics, citing President Bush's low poll ratings.
Also, the fact that Democrats control both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House and with the GOP only controlling the state Senate in Harrisburg "makes it difficult for us to get the message out and to sign up new voters," according to Davis.
"Face it, Democrats right now have the wind at their backs," said Davis. "We will have to live with this for another year."
"It's a difficult time for us here but we will change it around although it won't happen overnight," said Davis.
Montgomery County Democratic Chairman Marcel L. Groen could not be any happier short of wresting Republicans' 135-year-plus control of county government from them on Nov. 6.
"The best political poll is voter registration because it shows the way people are thinking," said Groen. "These numbers indicate that Montgomery County residents want change."
Groen attributed Democratic gains to the party's fielding of better candidates who appeal to a broader range of voters. Also, county Republicans are fiscal conservatives and social moderates who will cross party lines to vote for Democratic candidates that meet those criteria, according to Groen.