Dems gain in SLO County registration
Sea change in Fresno County as well
-April 8,2023-
Republicans are watching their voter registration numbers dwindle both along the coastal counties of the state and in the more conservative interior of California. The scale of the change is dramatic as the two parties have traded places when it comes to voter preference numbers in the past two decades.
In February 2019 the state published a snapshot of voter registration by county, something that happens every two years.
Just a few years ago in San Luis Obispo as of Feb 2019 the GOP outnumbered Democrats 58,641 to 58,493.
Four years later in 2023, Democrats number 69,759 voters vs 62,195 Republicans. So Dems increased their numbers by more than 11,000 while GOP numbers increased by about 3500
SLO county turned blue in a matter of a few years.Today 38.39% of voters call themselves Democrats while 34.2% say they are Republicans, according to state statistics.
A look back to February 2015 finds SLO County was a GOP stronghold with Republicans outnumbering Dems by over 10,000 with a 39.7% vs 32.8% advantage.
Since 2015, Dems have increased their numbers from about 49 thousand to 70 thousand – a gain of 21 thousand compared to a 3 thousand count increase in GOP numbers – a 7 to 1 advantage.
How about twenty years ago? That year in February 2003, the GOP had 62,000 voters in the county, amazingly the same total the GOP has today. In 2003 Dems numbered 49,000.
Fresno trend
What about in the SJ Valley where conservative politics has been the norm? In Fresno County there is a similar “trading places” trend – it turns out.
In February 2003, twenty years ago, the GOP outnumbered Dems by almost 5000, 151,781 to 147,039(D) in Fresno County. Fast forward February 2023, Fresno Dems now number 197,477 compared to 160,468 (R).
In 20 years, the GOP has gained under 19,000 more voters in Fresno County while the Democrats have gained over 50,000.
