Republicans grab lead in Carbon; Schuylkill remains Republican; Monroe remains Democrat

Carbon County has officially gone Republican, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State, which released voter registration figures this week.

For years, Democrats have ruled the roost as far as registration numbers were concerned. In fact, five years ago they held a 4,173 voter registration margin over the Republicans, but then things began to change.

Now, the Republicans have 18,299 registered voters to the Democrats’ 17,972, a difference of 327. Since the spring primaries in April, when the parties had 18,142 registered voters each, the GOP picked up 157 new voters, while the Democrats lost 170.

Carbon Republicans have made significant gains since 2013, sparked by an overwhelming vote for President Donald Trump in 2016. The GOP surge continued last year and into this year, and, given the obvious trend lines, both Republican and Democratic leaders in the county predicted that the GOP would flip the county before the Nov. 6 general election.

Going into the spring primaries of 2015, Carbon Republicans trailed the Democrats by 3,918; in 2016, the difference was cut to 1,953, and in 2017, the Democrats’ lead had dwindled to 382. By April, it was an unusual dead heat with not even one voter separating the two parties.

In the five-county Times News area, Democrats added to their commanding lead, 305,708 to 248,347. Statewide, Democrats have added twice as many new registered voters than Republicans since the primaries, 10,316 to 5,190. Democrats now have 4,052,147 registered to the Republicans’ 3,232,574, a difference of 819,573.

Carbon now joins Schuylkill, a perennial Republican stronghold. Republicans hold a voter-registration lead in Schuylkill, 43,285 to 31,617. Since the primaries, Republicans have added 165 voters, while Democrats have lost 125.

Democrats widened their lead in Monroe County where 49,843 Democrats and 35,650 Republicans are now registered. Since the primaries, Democrats have added 666 new voters, while Republicans have added 364.

In Northampton, Democrats also have done better since the primaries with 665 new registered voters to the Republicans’ 557. Northampton now has 95,013 registered Democrats and 72,568 Republicans.

Lehigh County Democrats registered about 3½ times as many new voters than the Republicans. Adding 890 to their count, the Democrats now have 111,263 registered voters, while the Republicans added 257 to bring their total to 78,545.

In all, there are 3,426 new registered voters in our five-county area, with still plenty of time to register or change parties. The deadline is Oct. 9.