SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. —
The Secretary of State’s Office reported last week that thousands of Californians had left the Republican Party after the attack on the Capitol. Now San Diego County Democrats say they are ready to capitalize on those potentially, new Democratic voters.
The San Diego County Democratic Party says they’ve seen a steady increase in voter registrations since 2018 and an even larger boost during the 2020 elections.
“There was an increase with the Democratic Party around 18,000. This cycle there’s a close to 200,000 voter increase in Democratic registration,” said Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, Chair for the San Diego County Democratic Party.
The California Secretary of State reports that Democrats gained over 1.6 million registered voters between 2018 and 2020. Political Analyst Laura Fink says San Diego County has been trending blue for a while but only time will tell if Democrats can produce with their newfound political clout.
“Will they be able to enact different policies than their Republican predecessors, will they be able to raise taxes, will they be able to start new programs, will they be able to grow the economy and provide San Diego County with the services that they need?” said Laura Fink, a Political Analyst.
Rodriguez-Kennedy, who says he used to be a Republican, believes the Democrats have created a wider tent that is open to all people and there’s no better time to welcome people who want to move in a different direction.
“You will see not only are we leading with Democrats who are converts, who are now very progressive voices in our government but we’re also seeing that we’re connecting with disaffected Republican voters and former no-party preference voters in order to bring them into the Democratic Party,” Rodriguez-Kennedy said.
Fink says that although San Diego County Democrats gained thousands of voters, still about 2/3 of those who recently left the Republican Party in California, registered with no-party affiliation or as Independents.
