Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Saline County Democrats Suffer 20% Voter Decline Since 2004


Since it's Election Day, the Times wanted to take a look at local politics.

For decades, Saline County has been considered one of a handful of Nebraska counties that is heavily Democrat in its politics. 

Ballots in Saline County today showcased seven county-level elected positions -- and all featured a Democrat who was running unopposed.  But Saline County politicians may want to note the dramatic shift that has occurred in the county's political registration.

New analysis by the Dorchester Times, using official information from the State of Nebraska, shows Democrats in Saline County have suffered a 20% decline in the number of registered voters in just 10 years. 

While Democrats currently hold a five percent advantage in Saline County's registered voters (43.5% to 38.1%) over Republicans, that margin is the smallest it has been since the Depression Era.

In 2004, Saline County had 4,286 registered Democrats and 3,177 registered Republicans.  As of today -- Nov. 4, 2014 -- there are 3,437 registered Democrats in Saline County.  All together, there are 7,898 registered voters in the county.

This is troubling news for Democratic partisans since the party has seen a steady decline in Saline County voters over the last decade.  In 2008, when President Obama was elected, there were 3,942 registered Democrats; by 2012, there were 3,576.

Republican voters have mostly held steady since 2004 -- with 3,006 in 2008, 2,975 in 2012, and 3,010 in 2014.

Meanwhile, registered non-partisan voters have seen a bit of an increase, from 1,164 in 2004 to 1,421 in 2014.  There are also currently 30 registered Libertarians in Saline County. 

2 comments:

  1. I'd guess this has much to do with the national democrat party moving so far left!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Old FDR and ethnic Democrats are dying off and fading away.

    That, or more people in Saline Co. are thinking for themselves.

    ReplyDelete

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