Mon, Jul 06, 2009

Tucson Region

Democrats gain ground, but GOP still rules in AZ

By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.28.2008
PHOENIX — Republicans still have an edge over Democrats in Arizona, but not as much as they did just two years ago.
New voter registration figures released Wednesday show the Grand Old Party added more than 57,000 people since the 2006 primary. But the Democrats managed to pick up another 110,405 followers in the same period.
That means Democrats now total more than 34.2 percent of the nearly 2.8 million people registered to vote, up from less than 33.5 percent two years earlier. In contrast, the Republicans' share of those eligible to cast ballots slipped from more than 39.6 percent to less than 38 percent.
Still, Republicans maintain a 103,696 registration edge.
The Libertarian share of the electorate remained constant at about six-tenths of a percent, with the Green Party, which was not recognized in 2006, corralling 3,467 registrants, giving it slightly more than one 10th of 1 percent.
And the number and share of those not interested in affiliating with any of the recognized parties went up by nearly 94,000. They now total more than 27.1 percent of eligible voters, and they will be eligible to vote in Tuesday's primary, under a state law that allows them to select which party's primary they want to participate in.
Bruce Merrill, who conducts polls for KAET-TV, the Phoenix PBS affiliate, said growth in independent voters is the continuation of a trend that people reject both political parties.
Merrill said that inclination is particularly strong among those younger than 30.
Even in Maricopa County, the home of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and traditionally a GOP stronghold, the Democrats out-hustled their Republican counterparts, signing up 62,000 new members to 19,000 for the GOP, with nearly 50,000 registering as independents.
In traditionally Democratic Pima County, the party added 25,000 new members against about 13,500 for Republicans.