Pennsylvania Republicans Outpacing Democrats in New Voter Registration By 135,000

This could easily make the difference.

Republicans are significantly outpacing Democrats in new voter registration in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, with the GOP registering almost 165,000 since the 2016 primary. Only 30,000 new registered Democrats have joined the party during the same time frame, even as the party conducted a competitive presidential primary election. This makes for a difference of 135,000 voters in favor of the Republican Party, a margin that could easily prove crucial to determining the state’s electoral fate in November.

Democrats still do outnumber Republicans in total in the east coast state, a relic of the state’s decades of strict allegiance to the party. President Trump’s 2016 victory largely came about as a result of his surprise victory in the state, which smug neoliberal political pundits had assumed was a lock for the Democrat.

Pennsylvania Republican Party chairman Lawrence Tabas cited the voter registration surge on the part of Republicans in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer as a reason to be optimistic about securing a victory for the President in the state in November, citing the thin margin of victory in 2016.

“Look, the president won our state by 44,000-plus votes in 2016,” said Tabas. “We have since picked up and narrowed the gap between us and the Democrats [by 135,000]. So we were already ahead 44,000, and look what we’ve picked up. I predict we’re going to...

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