The latest voter registration numbers from Maricopa County send a mixed message to the Republican Party and had nothing but bad news for the Democratic Party. More than 10,000 new voters registered in the county, Arizona’s largest by far, with almost 60% of them choosing to register as independent or not declaring any party preference. Roughly 2400 picked the Republican Party compared to just 1800 who picked the Democratic Party.
These new registration numbers kept IND voters (called Other Parties by the Maricopa County Recorder’s office) as the county’s largest group (867,582 voters), just ahead of the Republican Party (851,047 voters), with the Democratic Party falling further and further behind (734,583 voters).
“Clearly, neither party is very popular among new voters, and as badly as both Biden and Trump poll, it isn’t surprising to see most new voters opting for a ‘none of the above’ choice,” said one campaign consultant who advises candidates in Arizona.
But Republican consultant Constantin Querard was feeling better about the news, tweeting that it was “Reassuring that voters, in spite of biased news coverage trying to make GOPers the villain all the time, know/appreciate the differences between the parties and continue to align themselves w/the #GOP at a faster rate than the Dems. Good candidates/campaigns will = election wins!”
Reassuring that voters, in spite of biased news coverage trying to make GOPers the villain all the time, know/appreciate the differences between the parties and continue to align themselves w/the #GOP at a faster rate than the Dems. Good candidates/campaigns will = election wins! https://t.co/n2PAuwsFsp
— Constantin Querard (@CQuerard) April 6, 2023
One of the additional sets of data released by the County Recorder’s office may support Querard’s belief that the Republican Party is showing strength relative to Democrats. In addition to reporting on new registrations, the county also reports on changes in registration for existing voters. Both parties lost voters to the ranks of independents, but more Democrats switched to the Republican Party than the other way around, and more independent voters switched to the Republican Party than did to the Democratic Party.
Statewide numbers have not yet been released, but from the November general election to the numbers released at the end of January, Democrats gained just 69 voters statewide while Republicans gained 6,290. Independents gained a whopping 17,806, underscoring the growing importance of the Independent vote in Arizona elections.