Editorial
The Oklahoman
WE wrote recently about how the number of people who actually cast ballots in Oklahoma has dropped through years, which is cause for concern. State Democrats have another concern altogether — attracting folks who want to register with the party and support its candidates in primary elections and beyond.
The latest figures from the Oklahoma State Election Board underscore the gravity of this problem for Democrats. From mid-January to the end of September, the state recorded a net increase of more than 35,000 registered voters. But Democratic registration decreased by about 2,800.
Meantime, the Republican Party gained 23,349 registered voters; the number of registered independents increased by 15,019. This continues a trend that’s been particularly telling during the past 10 to 15 years.
In 2000, for example, Democrats made up 56.7 percent of registered voters in Oklahoma. Although well below the 82 percent Democratic registration of 1960 (or the 75.8 percent Democratic registration 20 years later), this was still a significant majority. Indeed in 2000, Republicans made up just 35 percent of registered voters. Independents comprised 8.3 percent.
But Republicans gained control of the state House of Representatives in 2004, by which time Democrats made up 52.7 percent of registered voters. Democrats still held a majority, although a shrinking one (50.5 percent), in 2006 when Democratic Gov. Brad Henry easily won re-election and his party won eight of nine statewide races.
Two years later, in 2008, the GOP took control of the state Senate. That also was the last year Democrats made up at least half the number of registered voters. They slipped below 50 percent in 2009 and have only continued to slide.
Democrats made up 49 percent of registered voters in 2010. Republicans made up 40.6 percent. The party’s nominees won all eight statewide positions on the 2010 ballot, giving the GOP control of the governor’s office and both houses of the Legislature for the first time.
The two major political parties are now closer to parity than at any time since the election board began compiling statewide voter registration statistics in 1960. At the end of September, Oklahoma had 882,778 Democrats — 43.8 percent of all those registered. Republicans had 877,678, or 43.6 percent (and a difference of just 5,100 voters). The state also had 253,889 independents, or 12.6 percent of registered voters, in what should be a message to both parties.
Consider that in 1980, only 1.4 percent of Oklahoma voters registered as independents. That figure had grown to 8.3 percent in 2000. This year alone, the number of registered independents grew from 12.1 percent to 12.6 percent. Clearly, not everyone is enamored with what they’re seeing from the two major parties.
But that’s especially true for the Democratic Party. It’s been hurt here by President Barack Obama’s time in the White House, to be sure. But the decline in Oklahoma’s registered Democrats predates Obama and his progressive policies.
The numbers make it clear: What was once the state’s dominant party is in freefall, with no indication that a change should be expected any time soon.
