Voters leaving GOP in Chesco
Once-dominant party has been losing ground for years
WEST CHESTER >> Gail Tatum, who has been a registered Republican her entire life, was one of the 603 Chester County Republicans who left the party since the start of the year. And like many others, she said she will never switch back, saying the Republican Party does not have the same ideals it did years ago.
“I have never, in my 68 years, felt such a division as there is today,” said Tatum, who lives in East Bradford Township. “For me, this has everything to do with Donald Trump. I’m never going back (to the Republican Party).”
Almost two-thirds of the voters who have switched parties this year left the GOP, compared with a third or less typically. In Pennsylvania, more than 19,000 switched parties since Jan. 6, when rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol building.
“I just don’t agree where the Republican Party is heading,” said Luis Lee, 79, of Kennett Square, a lifelong Republican who recently switched to the Democratic Party. “It’s primarily due to Trump. I feel like the Republicans are just trying to divide the country.”
As of Feb. 22, there were 367,738 registered voters in Chester County. Of them, 152,701 were registered Democrats, 149,209 were registered Re
publicans, and 65,828 were listed as “other,” either independents or third-party voters, such as Libertarians or Greens.
Between Feb. 16 and Feb. 22, 121 county Republicans switched their party registration to Democratic, while 26 switched to “other.” In the same time period, only three Democrats re-registered as Republicans and six to “other.” Since the start of 2021, 603 Republicans have switched to Democrat, and 99 to “other,” while 49 Democrats have switched to Republican and 49 to “other.”
Statewide, the figures break down this way — since the start of the year, 10,452 voters have re-registered from Republican to Democrat and 2,434 as independents or third party, while 4,942 Democrats have switched to Republican and 1,959 to “other.” By comparison, in 2018, 29,061 Republicans switched to Democrat, while 41,761 Democrats went to the GOP and 19,704 to independents or third parties.
In the past few weeks, more than 68,000 registered Republicans have left their party in key battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida — almost three times the estimated 23,000 Democrats who left their party in the same states over the same time period.
Dick Bingham, chairman of the Chester County Democratic Party, has noticed the trend and said he isn’t surprised at the mass exodus of Republicans switching to either Democrat or Independent
“The only thing surprising about the large number of registered voters switching their party affiliation to Democrat is that the number is not larger,” said Bingham. “Trump, as leader of the Republican Party, fabricated the big lie which led to the attempted insurrection at our nation’s capital on Jan. 6. But Trump was not alone in his attempt to subvert the election outcome. Eight members of Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation, 24 Pennsylvania state senators and 72 state legislators, including Rep. Tim Hennessey from Chester County, joined Trump’s big lie to overturn the will of millions of Pennsylvania voters.”
Gordon Eck, chairman of the Chester County Republican Party, said that although the Republican to Democrat registration deficit dropped from roughly 700,000 in November to 620,000 now, the focus is on attracting quality candidates to counter further losses.
“Considering that exPresident Trump was a polarizing figure, the reprehensible Capitol riot, and Sen. Toomey’s vocal criticism of the 45th president, it is not surprising that some Republicans have left the Part,” Eck said. “But a Republican exodus is greatly exaggerated.
“Going forward we are focusing on people and policies in expanding the Party for the good of our county. Unlike their Democrat counterparts, our countywide candidates are highly qualified with all having college degrees and five of the seven having graduate levels of education to go along with their impressive experiential resumes. In contrast, it is shocking that, in the midst of a pandemic, the Democrats are not even running a doctor for coroner.”
Eck said it is Democrats who are wasting millions of taxpayers’ dollars on faulty Covid-19 testing and now failing to make available the much-anticipated vaccine.
“All of this has unnecessarily put our residents in harm’s way,” Eck said. “The Republican Party is working hard on behalf of our children and workers to put forth reasonable policies to safely reopen our schools and businesses while insisting on accountability in government.”
Heather Lee, wife of Luis Lee of Kennett Square and a longtime Republican, said she switched parties and will never go back.
“Trump had everything to do with it,” she said. “I think he’s the worst piece of humanity on this earth, and I think he should be in jail for what he has done. I don’t know if changing my affiliation will get to the Republicans, but I hope so.”
Recent polling from Gallup found 50 percent of respondents identified as independents, rejecting both parties.
Gallup’s latest political identification poll, (Jan. 20 through Feb. 2), saw just 25 percent of respondents identifying as Democrats and 25 percent identifying as Republicans. Among independents, 41 percent said they lean more Republican and 50 percent said they lean more Democrat. It’s a stark contrast from late last year and before the riot when the divide was 31 percent, 30 percent, and 38 percent,. Gallup reports this is the first time the share of independents has reached 50 percent.
One longtime Chester County Republican voter and elected official said that he was disturbed both by the Trump administration and by the local and statewide effort to pass a censure resolution against U.S. Sen Pat Toomey for his vote to convict the former president of inciting an insurrectionist riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 — although not necessarily enough to get him to renounce his membership in the GOP.
“I am just very disgusted, I really am,” said Ronald P. Scott, 79, of East Fallowfield, who said he has been a registered Republican his entire life and served as a township supervisor for many years.
“I am a Republican, and I am proud to say that I have always voted Republican (in the primary elections,)” Scott said in an interview Thursday. “When it comes to November, I vote for the person who is going to serve me and the nation the best.”
In the last election, Scott said he voted for Joe Biden, the eventual winner, even as he had supported Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
“Over the last four years, I definitely lost interest in him. What has taken place with him and his legislation has been disappointing.”
On the other hand, Scott said that he had never been fond of Toomey as a senator. “But I applaud him for what he actually did (in the impeachment vote.) Now these (Republican lawmakers) are trying to censure him for that. It just makes me mad.”
Said Bingham: “I realize there are many Republicans who are holding onto the hope the “Grand Old Party” can be restored to what it used to be. But there are many others who have given up hope and are fleeing to the Democratic Party where the right to vote, equality and freedom and liberty for all are not only respected but treasured. We welcome them.”