I was asked what the trend of Nevada voters leaving the Democratic and Republican Parties looked like over an extended period of time. When did the migration start? Here’s the answer going back to December, 2000.
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In 2004, the Independent American Party (IAP) almost doubled in registrations jumping from 17,707 in December 2003 to 33,219 at the end of 2004. The IAP continued to increase registration, mostly to the detriment of the GOP. Was this an attraction to the more conservative platform of the IAP or were voters drawn by the words “Independent” and American? The answer really is not important. What is significant is that voters no longer identified with one of the major political parties.
Then in 2012, Non-Partisan increased by almost 33 percent over 2011 to 227,863. Migration away from the Democratic and Republican Parties continued. The GOP fell below 40 percent registration in 2008 and in 2014 the Democratic Party experienced the same fate.
2016 is a presidential election year. As the eventual nominees become known, it will be interesting to see if the trend away from the major political parties continues; note the changes in 2008 and 2012.