By Doug Goodman -Founder & Executive Director Nevadans for Election Reform
What’s going on in the Democratic Party? As we enter the last 30 days of the legislative session, something is causing the Party to continue to lose voter share across all tracked demographics while Non-Partisan and the Republican Party continue to gain.
In the figures for April 2019 voter registration just released by the secretary of state, the Democratic Party lost voter share state-wide, in Clark County, in Washoe County, in the rural counties, among those 18 – 34 years of age, and among those 55 and older. The Party also lost voter share in all Congressional and state senate districts and 36 of the 42 state assembly districts. Meanwhile, the Republican Party gained share in all but the rural counties (it remained even) and Non-Partisan gained except in Washoe County where it remained even. Gains for both were similarly lopsided towards gains in all legislative chambers. The Democratic Party also posted the lowest rate of growth across all tracked demographics.
State-Wide
| Party | Change in # Voters | % Change | % Voter Share | Difference in Voter Share % |
| D | 2,175 | 0.37% | 38.11% | -0.04% |
| R | 2,607 | 0.50% | 33.65% | 0.01% |
| NP | 2,196 | 0.65% | 21.99% | 0.04% |
| IAP | 427 | 0.64% | 4.38% | 0.01% |
| LIB | 115 | 0.75% | 1.00% | 0.00% |
| Other | -10 | -0.07% | 0.87% | 0.00% |
| Total not D or R | 28.24% | 0.05 |
Other includes Green Party, Natural Law Party, and others
Clark County
| Party | Change in # Voters | % Change | % Voter Share | Difference in Voter Share % |
| D | 1,970 | 0.44% | 41.84% | -0.06% |
| R | 2,000 | 0.64% | 29.40% | 0.02% |
| NP | 1,842 | 0.76% | 22.89% | 0.04% |
| IAP | 330 | 0.76% | 4.11% | 0.01% |
| LIB | 85 | 0.89% | 0.91% | 0.00% |
| Other | -6 | -0.07% | 0.85% | -0.01% |
| Total not D or R | 28.71% | 0.00% |
Other includes Green Party, Natural Law Party, and others
Washoe County
| Party | Change in # Voters | % Change | % Voter Share | Difference in Voter Share % |
| D | 166 | 0.17% | 34.99% | -0.02% |
| R | 267 | 0.26% | 36.89% | 0.01% |
| NP | 136 | 0.23% | 21.20% | 0.00% |
| IAP | 56 | 0.46% | 4.46% | 0.01% |
| LIB | 13 | 0.37% | 1.27% | 0.00% |
| Other | -10 | -0.31% | 1.18% | -0.01% |
| Total not D or R | 28.11% | 0.00% |
Other includes Green Party, Natural Law Party, and others
Rural Counties
| Party | Change in # Voters | % Change | % Voter Share | Difference in Voter Share % |
| D | 39 | 0.09% | 22.65% | -0.06% |
| R | 340 | 0.33% | 51.71% | 0.00% |
| NP | 218 | 0.60% | 18.26% | 0.05% |
| IAP | 41 | 0.36% | 5.69% | 0.00% |
| LIB | 17 | 0.75% | 1.14% | 0.00% |
| Other | 6 | 0.55% | 0.55% | 0.00% |
| Total not D or R | 25.64% | 0.05 |
Other includes Green Party, Natural Law Party, and others
18 – 34 Year Old
| Party | Change in # Voters | % Change | % Voter Share | Difference in Voter Share % |
| D | 735 | 0.46% | 38.46% | -0.05% |
| R | 600 | 0.63% | 22.87% | 0.01% |
| NP | 892 | 0.69% | 31.07% | 0.03% |
| IAP | 157 | 0.83% | 4.56% | 0.01% |
| LIB | 71 | 0.99% | 1.74% | 0.01% |
| Other | -37 | -0.68% | 1.30% | -0.02% |
| Total not D or R | 38.67% | 0.03% |
Other includes Green Party, Natural Law Party, and other
55+
| Party | Change in # Voters | % Change | % Voter Share | Difference in Voter Share % |
| D | 991 | 0.40% | 38.42% | -0.05% |
| R | 1,575 | 0.59% | 41.49% | 0.03% |
| NP | 627 | 0.65% | 14.99% | 0.02% |
| IAP | 151 | 0.57% | 4.13% | 0.00% |
| LIB | 32 | 1.11% | 0.45% | 0.00% |
| Other | 10 | 0.30% | 0.52% | 0.00% |
| Total not D or R | 20.09% | 0.02% |
Other includes Green Party, Natural Law Party, and others
By district voter share changes.
Congressional Districts
| Party | # Districts Lose Voter Share | # Districts Gain Voter Share | # Districts No Change |
| Democratic | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Non-Partisan | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| IAP | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| LIB | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Other | 1 | 0 | 3 |
CD 1, CD 2, and CD 4 (75 percent of the districts) 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.
State Senate Districts
| Party | # Districts Lose Voter Share | # Districts Gain Voter Share | # Districts No Change |
| Democratic | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 8 | 9 | 4 |
| Non-Partisan | 2 | 17 | 2 |
| IAP | 4 | 12 | 5 |
| LIB | 1 | 6 | 14 |
| Other | 8 | 0 | 13 |
In 16 districts (76.19%) 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.
State Assembly Districts
| Party | # Districts Lose Voter Share | # Districts Gain Voter Share | # Districts No Change |
| Democratic | 36 | 2 | 4 |
| Republican | 14 | 24 | 4 |
| Non-Partisan | 5 | 34 | 3 |
| IAP | 8 | 25 | 9 |
| LIB | 6 | 18 | 18 |
| Other | 21 | 3 | 18 |
In 34 districts (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.
The multi-year trend shows no sign of changing. The question is, will the presidential election cycle generate enough interest for the Democratic Party, or will the nomination battle have the opposite effect of turning voters away?