Palm Beach, Martin & Indian River’s Voter Registration Changes – November 30th, 2023
Bottom Line: Last year’s record setting election cycle for Republicans in Florida has changed the entire political perception of it. No longer the ultimate swing state, we’re now viewed as a red state. The state’s latest voter registration information reflected the continued surge in Republican momentum in Florida in this off-election year along with continued issues for Florida’s Democrats who continue to see significant declines in registered voters. But what about what’s happening closest to home?
The record performance for Republicans last year wouldn’t have been possible if not for the flipping of two of Florida’s three largest counties - Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. While Palm Beach County broke for the entire Republican cabinet for the first-time ever, Democrats still held a large voter registration advantage over Republicans on Election Day. So, a key question emerged from last year’s election cycle...is Palm Beach County’s post-Election Day trend consistent with the state? Is the political shift towards the right sustaining closest to home in one of the state's largest and most reliably blue counties?
At the peak of the Democrat voter registration advantage in Palm Beach County Democrats held an advantage of 138,400 voters. Democrats now hold an advantage of only 60,722 voters. Republicans have eaten into the Democrats’ advantage by a stunning 20,476 voters over the past month, and 40,825 voters year-to-date. The local trend continues to mirror the state’s overall trend as Democrats have lost ground to Republicans each month this year. There’s another notable takeaway here. 2023 marks the first year in which Democrats have held a voter registration advantage that’s lower than 100,000 in Palm Beach County since George W. Bush was president.
- In Martin County Republicans now hold an advantage of 33,889 voters an increase of 167 over the past month and 1,513 voters year-to-date.
- In Indian River County Republicans now hold an advantage of 30,721 voters an increase of 1,546 over the past month and 2,938 voters year-to-date.
What this helps to illustrate is that yes, Florida’s red counties are becoming “redder”, however the biggest storyline continues to be Florida’s blue counties becoming far less blue with Palm Beach County representing ground zero for that storyline most recently.