If there was any wonder why state and national Republicans are racing to change voting laws in their favor, it’s because Republican voters are fleeing the GOP in record numbers.
Politics
Although it’s no surprise, the antics of Donald Trump, his refusal to accept defeat in the 2020 presidential election, and the Trump-inspired Capitol insurrection of January 6th are all responsible for voters fleeing the GOP in 2021. In fact, phone lines and websites of local election officials across the country have been loaded with tens of thousands of Republicans calling or logging on to switch their party affiliations.
According to The New York Times, more than 33,000 registered Republicans in California left the party during the weeks following the January riot. In Pennsylvania, more than 12,000 voters left the GOP in February. North Carolina saw 3,007 Republicans change party affiliation in the first week after the riot, 2,850 the next week, and 2,120 the week after that. Additionally, more than 10,000 Republicans have changed their registration in Arizona in 2021.
The Times discovered that nearly 140,000 Republicans quit the party across 25 states in January alone.
Voting experts say the data indicates a stronger-than-usual flight from a political party after a presidential election, as well as the start of a potentially damaging period for the GOP.
Juan Nunez, a 56-year-old Army veteran in Mechanicsburg, PA said he once believed that a principal difference between the US and other countries was that campaign-season fighting ended on Election Day, when all sides would peacefully accept the result. However, the January 6th riot changed everything for him.
“What happened in D.C. that day, it broke my heart,” Nunez said. “It shook me to the core.”
The lifelong Republican has since registered as an independent.
“There’s nothing left!” – a Republican voter
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Since President Biden’s inauguration, Republicans have apparently seen the writing on the wall and the tidal wave coming their way. Several denounced the pro-Trump forces that attacked the Capitol, 10 Republican House members voted to impeach Donald Trump, and a sizable amount of Republicans have since supported key elements of Mr. Biden’s stimulus package and are backing his infrastructure plans.
“Since this is such a highly unusual activity, it probably is indicative of a larger undercurrent that’s happening, where there are other people who are likewise thinking that they no longer feel like they’re part of the Republican Party, but they just haven’t contacted election officials to tell them that they might change their party registration,” said Michael P. McDonald, a professor of political science at the University of Florida. “So this is probably a tip of an iceberg.”
Although the sheer number of Republican voters fleeing the GOP has been quite significant, The Washington Post believes those numbers are beginning to normalize.
Although the sheer number of Republican voters fleeing the GOP has been quite significant, The Washington Post believes those numbers are beginning to normalize. […] -DJ
Yep. And that same WP article also points out:
[ It’s also important to remember that party affiliation is not the same as presidential vote preference. Especially in a state like North Carolina, where registered Democrats still outnumber registered Republicans, many people probably vote for the opposite party with which they are registered. It’s quite possible that many of the people who have left the GOP since January didn’t vote for Trump in the first place and simply used this as an opportunity to have their registration reflect their preference. ]