Voter registration stats suggest Democratic shift

The latest voter registration numbers out of Nevada's most competitive Congressional District could be seen as an indicator that 3rd District incumbent U.S. Rep. Jon Porter's (R-Las Vegas) task of defending his seat has become a little more difficult in a state that appears to be trending toward the Democrats.



According to statistics from the Secretary of State's Web site, Democrats in the district held a narrow partisan registration advantage of 41.5 to 38.9 percent among active voters in January. By August, the 2.6 percentage point margin grew by nearly 4 points to a 43.5 to 37.0 percent advantage. Democrats added nearly 18,700 active voters to the rolls while Republicans added nearly 3,000.

In the 2nd Congressional District where incumbent U.S. Rep. Dean Heller (R-Carson City) is considered the favorite, Republicans saw over an 11-point registration advantage in January shrink by 4 percentage points, leaving the GOP with a solid 44.3 to 36.7 percent edge in August. The 2nd was the only district where the absolute number of active Republican voters decreased during the time period between January and August. While Democrats added 12,700 voters, Republicans lost nearly 1,200.



The most reliably Democratic 1st Congressional District has become even more blue over the last several months. While Democrats held a 49.3 to 31.6 partisan registration advantage in January, by August the margin grew by nearly 6 percentage points to 52.2 to 28.7 percent.



Statewide, the percentage of active non-partisan registered voters remained largely unchanged, decreasing slightly from 14.3 percent in January to 14.2 percent in August.