GOP voter registration surges in New Jersey

As New Jersey heads into the final weeks of a contentious race for governor, Democrats still have the most registered voters in the state. But Republican have made significant gains in registrations — adding nearly 164,000 voters over the last four years, according to the latest data released by the state Division of Elections.

Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill are both vying to replace outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy in November’s election. All 80 seats in the state Assembly are also on the ballot along with local races.

There were more than 6.6 million registered voters in New Jersey as of Oct. 1, according to the latest voter registration data. More than 4.2 million, nearly two thirds of all voters, are registered with a party in New Jersey.

Democrats continue to outnumber Republicans with more than 38% of all registered New Jersey voters, according to the latest numbers. About 25% of voters were registered as Republicans as of Oct. 1.

About 35% of voters are unaffiliated, the new data says. The remaining voters, less than 2%, are affiliated with smaller political parties, including the Green Party and the Libertarian Party. 

But the number of Republicans has surged since 2021, with the party gaining more than 163,800 voters in the past four years — an increase of more than 10%. The GOP has gained voters in 20 of New Jersey’s 21 counties.

Only Somerset didn’t see an increase. But even in that county, the decline was minimal with the number of Republicans decreasing by less than a tenth of a percent. Meanwhile, Democrats have lost more than 51,000 voters since 2021, the latest numbers show.

That is a loss of about 2% of the party’s registered voters. The number of Democrats shrank in 14 counties. Cumberland saw the biggest decline with Democrats decreasing by more than 8%.

At a time where the Democratic Party is historically unpopular, and Republicans are gaining ground with Hispanic voters, and increasing their voter registration in kew swing states like Pennsylvania, this is another headache for a party that doesn’t know what direction to go at the moment.

This does not mean that Republicans are destined to be a majority party for an extended period of time. But it does portend challenges for Democrats in many parts of the country that they didn’t even think a challenge was possible.

If things don’t change for the Democrats, winning presidential elections will be harder for them than at any time since the age of Ronald Reagan.