DEMOCRATS NOW OUTNUMBER REPUBLICANS
IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Norristown, PA (April 4, 2008) – At 4 p.m. today, the Montgomery County Board of Elections confirmed that there are now more registered Democrats in Montgomery County than Republicans.

The latest totals are 240,232 Democrats and 240,053 Republicans – a difference of 179. County officials told Montgomery County Democratic that there are still some 8,000 more registration applications to process. With registrations running 10 to 1 in favor of Democrats, Montgomery County will almost certainly be a Democratic county when voters go to the polls on April 22.

“This is a new day in Montgomery County,” said MCDC Chair Marcel Groen. “This is a testament to the message and the candidates that Democrats have put forth over the past decade.”
As recently as 1996 Republicans had virtually a 2-1 edge in registrations. The county’s congressional delegation was all Republican. There was only one Democrat in the Montgomery County state House delegation and none in the state Senate. At the 1996 General election, Republicans had 114,008 more registered voters than Democrats.

In the ensuing 12 years, the changes have been startling. Democrats have out-registered Republicans every year since 1996. At first the change was gradual. By the presidential election of 2000, the registration edge had slipped under 100,000. Four years later at the 2004 presidential election the divide was down to 54,522.

When registration closed before the 2007 general election the GOP advantage had dwindled to 30,714, but the registration tremors that have shaken all of Pennsylvania since then have been magnified in Montgomery County.

As of March 31, a mere four months after the registration period reopened after the 2007 general election, the registration edge was a razor thin 7,843 voters, and four days later the deficit was erased.

A snapshot of Montgomery County today is much different than that taken in 1996. The vast majority of Montgomery County is represented by Democratic Members of Congress. Four of the six congressional seats representing a part of Montgomery County are held by Democrats. Four of the eight state Senate seats that represent at least a portion of the county are held by Democrats. Six of the 15 state House seats are held by Democrats.
At the county level, the Democrats, until this year, had never won a county-wide election and the only Democrats to serve in elected county office were those mandated by law. In 2007, the Democrats came extremely close, but failed to take a majority of the board of commissioners, but did win five of the nine row office seats – a staggering accomplishment that political observers are still trying to explain. Those wins came before the recent snowballing registration gains.

Despite the registration disadvantages, Democratic presidential candidates have won Montgomery County in every election since 1992.