Though Kentucky is a reliable supporter of Republican candidates in races for President and the U.S. Senate, nearly every congressional district, and most state constitutional and legislative officers, there are still more registered Democrats on the voter rolls than Republicans.
That could change by the end of this year, though, according to Secretary of State Michael G. Adams who cited what he called a surge of Republican registrations last month.
In his monthly update of the state’s voter rolls, Adams noted that the Republican Party gained 5,684 voters in December while the Democratic Party saw a decrease of 5.571.
The end of December marked the last opportunity to change one’s political affiliation in order to participate in a political party’s primary election in May. Kentucky elections feature “closed primaries”, which means that voters must be registered as Democrats or Republicans in order to vote in those parties’ primaries.
“Kentucky remains a two-party state, and candidates should reach across the political divide and court all voters,” Adams said in a news release. “Nevertheless, voter registration is now reflecting voter preference at the ballot box, and I believe that by the November election, a plurality of Kentucky voters will be registered as Republicans.”
In December, Kentucky voter registration increased by 579 voters, with 4,396 new registrations, while 3,817 voters were removed (2,876 deceased voters, 482 who moved out of state, 386 felony convicts, 41 who were adjudged mentally incompetent, 31 who voluntarily de-registered, and 1 duplicate registration).
Democratic registrants make up 45.7 percent of the electorate with 1,626,274 voters. Democratic registration dropped a 0.34 percent decrease over the prior month. Republican registrants total 1,591,873, or 44.7 percent of voters. Republican registration grew by 0.35 percent from November.
In addition, 9.5 percent of voters, or 339,556, are registered under other affiliations, which added 456 voters, a .01 percent increase.
-Staff report