GOP outpaces Democrats by more than 2-1 in new party registration

By David Wildstein, July 06 2021 2:25 pm

New Jersey added 44,923 new Republicans and 19,484 new Democrats in June 2021, with a competitive gubernatorial primary likely boosting new GOP registration.

The state’s vote rolls increased by 2,295 during the month of June and now has 1,083,889 more Democrats than Republicans and 182,743 more Democrats than unaffiliated voters.

The number of unaffiliated voters — sometimes referred to as independents – decreased by 42,507 last month, possibly a result of new party declarations in advance of the June primary election.  Of the new part affiliations, 57% are Republicans and 43% are Democrats.

More voters are signing up as members of a political party than ever before.

As of July 1, voter registration in New Jersey is now 39% Democratic, 23% Republican and 37% unaffiliated.   At the time of the 2016 presidential election, the state was 36% Democratic, 21% Republican and 43% unaffiliated.

In 2001, the last time Republicans had a governor and majorities in both houses of the Legislature, 55% of New Jersey voters were not affiliated with either political party.  Ove the last 20 years, that number has dropped by 18 percentage points.

Democrats made up 25.3% of the voters in 2001, while 19.5% were registered as Republicans.