See how party affiliation has changed in Florida since the 2018 primary elections
.jpg "Party registration patterns in Florida have undergone a long, slow shift, costing Democrats what had been their lead in the state")
For years Republicans have been making gains in voter registration numbers in Florida as compared against Democrats. But it wasn’t until November 2021 that active registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats for the first time. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans have celebrated the milestone ever since.
The margin is thin. Registered Republicans lead Democrats by less than one percentage point, as of August 2022.
Although the Florida Division of Elections publishes data that include only active voters on their site, the Herald included active and inactive voters in all calculations and graphics, since inactive voters are still eligible to vote.
When accounting only for voters designated as active, the Republicans lead Democrats by a little more than one percentage point and a half.
Voters are classified as inactive when an “address confirmation” final notice sent by election officials is returned “undeliverable” or fails to elicit a response within 30 days. If they do not return to the polls over the next two federal general elections, request a mail ballot or change their registration information, inactive voters are removed from the rolls.
In the August 2022 file, around 1.5 million voters were designated as inactive — 36% Democrats, 28% Republicans and the rest Non-Party Affiliated (NPA) or registered in minor parties.
The portion of registered voters not affiliated with any political party has also steadily risen. From August 2018 (month of the the last midyear primary) to August 2022, that number increased a percentage point and a half.
The counties that have seen the sharpest Republican gains tend to have smaller populations and are mostly concentrated in the Florida Panhandle: Lafayette, Liberty and Taylor.
Democrats have lost a lot of ground since 2018. They saw decreases in their percentages in all but two Florida counties — Seminole and Alachua, where their gains were less than one percentage point.
In all, Republicans outnumber Democrats in 51 of 67 Florida counties even though the overall statewide margin remains small.
This story was originally published August 20, 2022 at 8:03 AM with the headline "See how party affiliation has changed in Florida since the 2018 primary elections."