Major Political Parties’ Downward Slide Continues

Can the Democratic and Republican Party in Nevada stop the downward slide in voter share? Looking at the just released voter registration statistics for July, 2017, it does not look like it. The only bright spot for the Republican Party was in the rural counties where they had a slight gain in voter share. Except for that, both the major parties lost voter share across all tracked demographics. As has been the trend, both Non-Partisan and the minor parties gained share.

The bad news does not stop there. For the second consecutive month, the Democratic Party lost voter share in all 21 state senate districts and all but one state assembly district. In the state’s congressional districts, for the first time, both Non-Partisan and minor parties gained voter share in all four districts.

State-Wide

Party	Change in # Voters	% Change	% Voter Share	Difference in Voter Share %
D	1,218	0.21	39.23	-0.08
R	1,574	0.32	33.10	-0.03
NP	1,823	0.59	21.04	0.04
Other	1,340	1.38	6.64	0.06
Total not D or R			27.68	0.10

Other includes IAP, Lib, and 5 parties without ballot access.

Change is # voters: IAP +0.63%; Lib +0.96%; other 5 parties +4.46%

Clark County

Party	Change in # Voters	% Change	% Voter Share	Difference in Voter Share %
D	952	0.21	42.88	-0.08
R	888	0.30	28.81	-0.03
NP	1,189	0.52	21.95	0.03
Other	1,.192	1.83	6.36	0.09
Total not D or R			28.31	0.12

Other includes IAP, Lib, and 5 parties without ballot access.

Change is # voters: IAP +0.71%; Lib +1.11%; other 5 parties +5.97%

Washoe County

Party	Change in # Voters	% Change	% Voter Share	Difference in Voter Share %
D	329	0.37	35.37	-0.08
R	526	0.56	37.58	-0.02
NP	534	1.08	19.90	0.09
Other	133	0.75	7.15	0.01
Total not D or R			27.05	0.10

Other includes IAP, Lib, and 5 parties without ballot access.

Change is # voters: IAP +0.95%; Lib +0.89%; other 5 parties -0.03

Rural Counties

Party	Change in # Voters	% Change	% Voter Share	Difference in Voter Share %
D	-63	-0.14	24.01	-0.06
R	160	0.17	51.01	0.03
NP	100	0.31	17.50	0.03
Other	15	0.11	7.49	0.00
Total not D or R			24.99	0.03

Other includes IAP, Lib, and 5 parties without ballot access.

Change is # voters: IAP +0.01%; Lib +0.36%; other 5 parties +0.64%

18 – 34 Year Old

Party	Change in # Voters	% Change	% Voter Share	Difference in Voter Share %
D	173	0.11	39.36	-0.09
R	237	0.27	22.50	-0.02
NP	456	0.39	29.83	0.02
Other	453	1.39	8.32	0.09
Total not D or R			38.15	0.11

Other includes IAP, Lib, and 5 parties without ballot access.

Change is # voters: IAP +0.40%; Lib +1.10%; other 5 parties +3.86%

55+

Party	Change in # Voters	% Change	% Voter Share	Difference in Voter Share %
D	724	0.30	39.71	-0.06
R	1,063	0.43	40.51	-0.01
NP	602	0.69	14.49	0.03
Other	404	1.27	5.29	0.04
Total not D or R			19.78	0.07

Other includes IAP, Lib, and 5 parties without ballot access.

Change is # voters: IAP +0.76%; Lib +0.94%; other 5 parties +4.82%

 Major party loses also continue in congressional and legislative districts.

Congressional Districts

Party	# Districts Lose Voter Share	# Districts Gain Voter Share	# Districts No Change
Democratic	4	0	0
Republican	4	0	0
Non-Partisan	0	4	0
Other	0	4	0

Both CD 1, CD 2, and CD 4 continue to show the number of voters not affiliated with either major party is greater than or within 5% of the number of voters registered to one of the major parties. Note that Non-Partisan and minor parties gained voter share in all districts.

State Senate Districts

Party	# Districts Lose Voter Share	# Districts Gain Voter Share	# Districts No Change
Democratic	21	0	0
Republican	16	3	2
Non-Partisan	2	17	2
Other	0	21	0

In 15 districts (71.4%) and an increase of one over June, the number of voters registered as Non-Partisan or the total number not affiliated with either major party is greater than or within 5% of the number of voters registered to one of the major parties. Note the Democratic Party lost voter share in all districts for the second consecutive month. At the same time, minor parties gained voter share in all districts.

State Assembly Districts

Party	# Districts Lose Voter Share	# Districts Gain Voter Share	# Districts No Change
Democratic	41	1	0
Republican	20	19	3
Non-Partisan	11	27	4
Other	7	34	1

Unchanged. In 31 districts (73.81%) the number of voters registered as Non-Partisan or the total number not affiliated with either major party is greater than or within 5% of the number of voters registered to one of the major parties. This is unchanged from last month. For the second consecutive month, the Democratic Party lost voter share in all but one district.

Senate bill 103 this last session attempted to address this trend. Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford (D – Las Vegas) refused to give the bill a hearing. Not addressing the problem will not make it go away.