Democrats’ edge in registration rises

The Jan. 19 presidential caucuses catapulted Nevada Democrats to an advantage of more than 32,000 registered voters over Republicans, according to new data from the secretary of state's office.

Between Jan. 31 and Monday, when the new registrations collected at the caucus were recorded, the number of Democrats in the state increased by nearly 18,000, while the number of Republicans fell more than 3,000 and the number of nonpartisan voters also decreased, by about 4,400.

Democrats said they turned in roughly 30,000 voter registration forms from the day of the caucus alone to county clerks and registrars.

The total number of active registered voters increased about 9,300. The numbers appear to indicate that in addition to bringing new voters into the process, Democrats got Republicans to switch sides and independent voters to become Democrats.

"These numbers are simply incredible," said Kirsten Searer, deputy executive director of the Nevada Democratic Party. "This gives us an incredible boost going into an important presidential election. But we can't rest on our laurels. Now it's time to roll up the sleeves and get to work."

Democrats basically tripled their edge over Republicans in less than a month. As of Jan. 31, there were 11,478 more Democrats; by Feb. 18, the gulf had widened to 32,465.

The numbers represent a reversal from a year ago. In February 2007, Republicans had an advantage of fewer than 1,000 registered voters over Democrats.

Republicans were unruffled by the news, saying what matters is not statistics, but who gets elected in November.

"There's 10 months left in the election process," state GOP Executive Director Zac Moyle said. "We're very confident that in the end, Nevada voters will understand that Republicans have the better candidate to lead the country right now."

Democrats made gains in several areas:

•In Congressional District 3, where Democrats hope to give Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., the race of his life, their edge widened from fewer than 10,000 to more than 18,000. Democrats now enjoy an advantage of 5 percentage points, making up 43 percent of the district's voters, compared with the Republicans' 38 percent.

•Congressional District 2, where former Democratic Party Chairwoman Jill Derby announced Wednesday she is mounting a second run against Republican Dean Heller, remains strongly Republican. But Democrats narrowed the gap by nearly 7,000 voters and now represent 36 percent of the district's voters, compared with the GOP's 46 percent.

•State Senate District 6, where Democrats are hoping to topple Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, went from a 1,000-plus voter edge for the Republicans to a tiny edge for the Democrats: 74 votes out of 49,000.

•In state Senate District 5, where Democrats are searching for a candidate to go up against Joe Heck, R-Henderson, Democrats turned a 1,200-vote Republican advantage into a 1,500-vote Democratic edge, out of 108,000 voters.

Picking up one Senate seat would give Democrats, who already control the state Assembly by a wide margin, the majority in both houses of the Legislature. They currently are an 11-10 minority in the Senate.

"Not only are the numbers significant statewide, but in all our targeted districts, we've made progress or surpassed the Republicans in voter registration," Searer said.

Democrats drew 117,000 participants to the Jan. 19 precinct caucuses, the biggest in the state's history. Republicans, whose caucuses were mostly uncontested, still enjoyed a record turnout of 44,000.

Democrats allowed caucus-goers to register to vote at the door, while Republicans required registration 30 days in advance. That discrepancy, while allowing Democrats to rake in voter-registration forms on caucus day, also made it possible for people to become Democrats for a day, with no intention of sticking with the party.

Matt Griffin, deputy secretary of state for elections, said there was anecdotal evidence from around the state that people already are undoing their one-night stands with the Democratic Party.

"I'm hearing from the (county) clerks, and they tell me it's happening quite a bit," he said.

Searer allowed that might be part of the Democratic surge but said she doubted it made up a substantial portion of the increase. Even if people are not registered as Democrats anymore, the fact they switched for a day indicates they are open to the possibility, she said.

"All signs point to independents and people who don't typically vote getting involved as Democrats this year because they're so frustrated with eight years of George Bush," she said.

As of Monday, the state had 1,005,810 active registered voters. Of those, 425,313, 42 percent, were registered as Democrats, while 392,811, 39 percent, were Republicans. The rest were registered nonpartisan or with third parties.

When inactive voters were counted, there were 1,253,523 total voters. Inactive voters are those whose registrations are incomplete or who appear to have moved from their addresses on file, but they can still vote.

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2919.