How has the number of GOP, Democrat voters changed in Bradenton area? Here’s the data
Republicans are expanding their lead as the most popular political party in Manatee County, according to data reviewed by the Bradenton Herald.
For several years, registered Republicans have made up the largest group of voters in the Bradenton area, but local GOP leaders have added about 20,000 voters to their ranks since 2018. Meanwhile, Democrats have only added 5,000 voters.
According to the latest voter turnout numbers in the 2022 midterm election, Manatee County Republicans have also built an early lead in the number of ballots cast.
As of Friday afternoon, about 44,000 Republicans, 29,000 Democrats and 18,000 people associated with other parties have already voted.
Speaking with the Bradenton Herald, Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett said he believes the recent changes in voter registration numbers can be attributed to Manatee County residents who are disappointed with extreme politicians on either side of the aisle.
More Independents
Bennett explained that his office has also noticed a significant increase in the number of Independent voters. There are 20% more Independent voters than there were in 2018.
“A large number of our voters are moderate,” said Bennett, a registered Republican and former state lawmaker. “A lot of that is just people fed up with the far-left and the far-right. You can call them Independent, third-party or whatever, but they’re moving to be more moderate.”
According to the Supervisor of Elections Office, Manatee County’s current voter breakdown is:
- Republican: 124,035
- Democrat: 79,588
- Other: 76,981
- Total: 280,604
The Republican advantage in Manatee County creates an uphill battle for Democrats seeking elected office in local, state and federal seats.
Just ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Democrats are nearly tied with voters registered with smaller political parties or no party affiliation.
Local voter registration numbers also show Democrats are the only group to lose voters since 2020. In the past two years, the political party has lost about 4,000 registered voters.
Tracy Pratt, Manatee County Democratic Party Chair, believes Manatee County is seeing the same trend as the rest of the state and attributed the voter registration changes to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial policies that have attracted conservative voters from across the nation.
According to statewide voter registration data, Florida had more registered Democrats than Republicans in 2018, but Republicans have taken the lead in 2022.
“It just appears that we have a tremendous amount of people moving into the state and the majority are registering as Republican,” Pratt said.
Despite their disadvantage in voter registration numbers, Bennett encouraged registered Democrats to remain involved in the election process.
“It’s harder and harder for the Democrats to win an election here in Manatee County because they think it’s futile, but the one thing I do know is the side that keeps on fighting will eventually score a punch or two,” said Bennett. “The Democrats should keep on fighting.”
Pratt pointed to the party’s grassroots organization and the razor-thin margin that allowed Republicans to win key seats in Florida’s statewide 2018 election as proof that every vote matters.
“Democrats should not feel discouraged. The truth is we’re 80,000 strong, and we can certainly take seats and contribute significantly to state and federal elections,” Pratt said. “We only lost our (U.S.) Senate seat by (10,000) votes in 2018. If every Democrat in Manatee County went out to vote, we could have won that seat. Every Democrat’s vote really counts in these elections.”
This story was originally published November 6, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
