(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) In 2023, nearly 59,000 registered Democrats from Pennsylvania left their party, with many of them joining the Republican Party, which could positively affect Republicans in the upcoming 2024 election.
Of those who left, 36,950 Pennsylvania residents switched to the Republican party, according to the Epoch Times. The news source also reported that 21,644 Pennsylvanians switched their party affiliation to “other,” the category the Pennsylvania Department of State uses in its data to cover parties such as Green and Libertarian.
“As the Democrat Party tilts further to the progressive left, more historically traditional, working-class families are moving to the Republican Party, both in terms of how they vote and how they’re registered,” conservative political strategist Charlie Gerow said.
He also added that there is a significant shift going on in the base of the party.
“The stuff we were taught in civics class simply is no longer the case — where the Republicans are the party of the country club set and the brie and Chablis crowd — now to a greater extent, the Republicans are the party of working men and women and the Democrats are the party of the privileged elite,” Gerow said.
Lawrence Tabas, chairman of the Pennsylvania GOP, said that the reason why Democrats, in general, and Pennsylvanians, in particular, are leaving their party is for various reasons, such as the horrible economy, the illegal immigration and fentanyl that enters the country through the wide-open southern border.
As of Jan. 2, 2024, of the 8.6 million registered Pennsylvania voters, there are 3,895,562 Democrats and 3,460,478 Republicans, a difference of 435,085 more Democrats than Republicans.
Gerow said that Pennsylvania could be considered the most purple state in the entire country, adding that in recent years, the state has had a Republican governor, a Democrat governor, a Republican-led legislature, one Democratic U.S. senator, one Republican U.S. senator, a Congressional delegation that was equally divided, a state House that is split 102-101 and a Senate that teeters on the edge in terms of majority.
“It’s a state that Donald Trump won eight years ago and lost four years ago. It’s very, very divided. It is a state that can be won by either side, and I think 2024 is going to be very closely contested in Pennsylvania. Whoever wins Pennsylvania wins the whole enchilada,” he said.
