Over 100,000 Democrat voters switched parties this year to vote for Donald Trump according to party officials.
Over 200,000 have switched parties in the state before the April 26 primary. Most of the voters are joining the Republican camp.
McCall reported:
Voters are switching their party affiliation in Pennsylvania at a rate not seen in years, if ever, as their chance to cast ballots in a competitive presidential primary election approaches.
The latest statistics this week from Pennsylvania’s elections bureau show more than 214,000 registered voters have switched this year. That amounts to 3 percent of the state’s 8.2 million registered voters. Carbon County is among the state’s hot spots.
This is the first year voter registration in the state can be done online, making it easier than getting the paperwork, filling it out and submitting it. Many of those switching parties reported wanting to vote in Pennsylvania’s April 26 primary, and the switching accelerated in the weeks before Monday’s deadline for Pennsylvanians to register to vote in the election or change their voter registration.
Among those making a switch, about half became Republicans, according to state statistics as of Monday. One-third became Democrats and the rest — about one-eighth — joined a minor party or registered as unaffiliated…
…While some of the Republican gains might have to do with Democratic Party voters feeling abandoned by their party, most of it probably relates to Donald Trump’s candidacy, said Bill Heydt, chairman of the Lehigh County Republican Party.
“I think it is more love than hate going on,” Heydt said. “You know, Trump asks questions people want to hear, and nobody has been asking them or answering them either. I think it has opened a whole new window for people who are tired of the status quo.”
20,000 Democrats switched parties before the Massachusetts primary in March. Trump won the state in a landslide with 45% of the vote.
