A new study shows that over one million voters across the country, particularly in suburban areas, are switching parties ahead of November’s midterm elections, in a massive warning for the incumbent Democratic Party.
According to the study conducted by the Associated Press, over one million voters across 43 different states have changed their affiliations from Democrat to Republican over the course of the last year. Although the trend has been seen across all geographic areas, from rural areas to the cities, it is most common in the suburbs, often considered the key demographic in recent years. Among the areas that have seen this shift most notably are: Atlanta, Georgia; Denver, Colorado; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; Raleigh, North Carolina; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Des Moines, Iowa; and Augusta, Georgia.
The information was compiled using voter registration data from the political data firm L2, which amounted to approximately 1.7 million voters switching parties over the last 12 months. L2 determined this information by combining state voter records with statistical modeling, which ultimately found that, of the 1.7 million voters who switched parties, just over one million switched from Democrat to Republican; the remaining 630,000 switched from Republican to Democrat.
Swing states have seen the greatest shifts in party registration, boosting the Republican Party’s chances in key races ahead of the midterms. In Iowa, Republicans now hold a roughly 2-to-1 advantage in party switches, and have a similar lead in Ohio. In Florida, over 70 percent of voters who switch parties are switching to the GOP; in Pennsylvania, 63 percent of voters switching parties are joining the GOP.
Some of the primary reasons behind this trend include the Democratic Party’s emphasis on forced coronavirus lockdowns and vaccine mandates, as well as indoctrination efforts in public schools trying to force children to learn about such radical concepts as Critical Race Theory (CRT) and transgenderism. Economic woes have also plagued the party since Joe Biden came to power, with inflation currently at 40-year highs and forcing prices up across the board, including the costs of gas and basic groceries.
Ben Smith, a suburban voter in Larimer County, Colorado, said that his decision to switch parties was “more so a rejection of the left than embracing the right.” Another Larimer County voter, Jessica Kroells, said that she ultimately felt that the Democratic Party had “left me behind.”
“The party itself is no longer Democrat,” Kroells added. “It’s progressive socialism.”