Where do GOP voters go after Capitol riot? Tens of thousands drop party registrations
Tens of thousands of Republican voters have changed their party registrations in the aftermath of the deadly riot on Jan. 6 during which supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol.
Republican voters have defected in key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Arizona and Florida, in addition to North Carolina, Colorado and Maryland. The exodus from the GOP could mean trouble for a party that just lost the presidential election and its majority in the Senate.
President Joe Biden won over Pennsylvania and Arizona voters in the November election — swing states that Trump had won in 2016.
More Republicans have changed their voter registrations than Democrats, but these former GOP voters are more likely to drop party affiliation altogether and not completely switch sides.
In Pennsylvania, almost 10,000 voters changed their registrations from Republican in the first 25 days of the year, according to Pennsylvania’s Department of State office. Among the Republicans who switched, 3,476 then registered as Democrats and the rest registered without a party affiliation or with another party.
By comparison, 2,093 Pennsylvania Democrats switched over to the Republican Party as of Monday, and only 1,184 Democrats registered with a minor party or went unaffiliated.
From Jan. 6-24, more than 9,000 Arizona Republicans changed their party registrations to Democrat, independent or Libertarian after the Capitol attack, CNN reported, citing numbers by Arizona’s Secretary of State office.
Former Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, expressed concern over the defections from Republicans in the state.
“Please, fellow Republicans, we cannot continue to excuse former President Trump’s behavior and promote falsehoods about the election,” Flake tweeted on Tuesday.
In North Carolina, more than 6,000 GOP voters changed their party registrations from Jan. 6-19, according to data from the state’s Board of Election. About 530 Republicans switched to the Democratic Party, while about 6,000 choose no party affiliation. Around 500 Democrats flipped to the Republican Party, while 1,200 opted to register with no party affiliation.
From Jan. 6-12, around 4,600 Colorado Republicans switched their party registrations after the Capitol siege, according to a Colorado Public Radio News analysis. Around 200 former Republicans joined the Democratic Party, and about 4,400 voters changed from Republican to no party affiliation.
“I don’t think there would be any other reason why it would begin at that day except that they looked at what was happening in Washington, D.C., and decided this is a time for me to make what is clearly a symbolic move,” said Ryan Winger, director of data analysis and campaign strategy for Magellan Strategies, according to the outlet.
More than 2,300 Maryland Republicans dropped their party affiliations after the Capitol attack, The Baltimore Sun reported, citing figures from the Maryland State Board of Elections. Republican defections outnumbered those from other political parties. In the same week, only 862 Democrats and 556 voters without party affiliations changed their registrations.
Miami-Dade, Florida’s most populous county, saw seven times as many GOP voters as Democrats switch their registrations, South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. In the two days after the Capitol riots, 708 Republicans and 96 Democrats changed their party affiliations. Among the former GOP voters, 431 switched to no party and 171 registered as independents.
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Where do GOP voters go after Capitol riot? Tens of thousands drop party registrations."