Connecticut registration voter party change

Between Jan. 1, 2021 and June 27, 2022

Source:

more than 1 million voters, a small portion of the overall U.S. electorate, does not ensure widespread Republican success in the November midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress and dozens of governorships. Democrats are hoping the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to overrule Roe v. Wade will energize supporters, particularly in the suburbs, ahead of the midterms.

Ronald C. Schurin, associate professor of political science at the University of Connecticut, said Tuesday that one of the reasons why Connecticut residents are generally staying with their parties, is there are no major election primary battles.

While the three-way fight for the GOP nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal pits Themis Klarides, the moderate former state House minority leader and conservatives Peter Lumaj and Leora Levy, it doesn’t appear to be galvanizing voters enough to change parties to vote on

August 9. Mid-May was the deadline to change parties in time to cast a ballot in the primary 90 days later, although new voters and unaffiliated voters can register as Republicans by noon on August 8.

“How many people think seriously about politics this many months out from an election to go the extra step of changing your affiliation?” Schurin said. State Democrats easily outnumber Republicans by 850,083 to 480,033. The current unaffiliated total is 939,715.

Democratic State Committee Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo said the slight turnover figures in Connecticut cannot be attributed to any particular reason.

“I have heard grumblings from people who are angry at Republicans,” DiNardo said in a Tuesday phone interview. “Are they angry with Biden for inflation and higher gasoline costs? Yes, but that’s from the war in Russia . I haven’t really heard of any changes in registration for either party.”

Ben Proto, chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, agrees that generally turnover of party membership is low. “When you look at the unaffiliated, that’s where a lot of new voters are registering,” he said. “At the end of the day, unaffiliated voters control the election in Connecticut.”

Cheri Quickmire, executive director of the election watchdog Common Cause in Connecticut, said the numbers of transfers, even though they are not large, do point to some people being disillusioned with their political party. “Both parties need to figure out how they’re going to engage affiliated voters,” Quickmire said. “We are about all voters participating and every vote counting.”

She noted that Connecticut has closed primaries, open only to Democrats and Republicans. “They can vote in the general election,” Quickmire said. “We want to make sure our elections are open to everyone.”