San Diego County Sees More Registered Republican Voters

County Sees More Registered Republican Voters

As Of Sept. 1, - 511,655 Registered Republicans To 508,305 Registered Democrats

POSTED: 5:52 pm PDT September 1, 2010
UPDATED: 7:37 pm PDT September 1, 2010

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- The San Diego County Republican Party now has the most registered voters in San Diego County which could create a shift in political power.

As of Sept. 1, there were 511,655 registered Republicans and 508,305 registered Democrats. But during the June primary this year, there were 509,023 registered Republican voters versus 514,536 Democrats.

For decades, registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats in the county, but that changed in 2008 when then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama hit the scene. The 2008 presidential election created almost equal amounts of registered Democrats and Republicans. In 2009 and the first part of 2010, registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans for the first time in decades.

Local Republican Party Chairman Tony Krvaric told 10News President Obama was part of the reason for the surge.

"Obama was a great orator [and] a great motivator," said Krvaric. He also said the Republican Party lost its way and was not doing enough to defeat the Democrats.

Two years into the Obama presidency, Krvaric said voters realized they were wrong about the Democratic Party.

"They focused on bailouts," said Krvaric. "They focused on a failed stimulus, forcing ObamaCare down peoples' throats."

The local Republican Party said it has increased its efforts to register people to vote, and many have been people switching from the Democratic Party.

Former Democrat Alex Galicia of Chula Vista told 10News he originally voted Democrat because he was concerned about immigration issues. Then he realized there were more issues that the Democrats were ignoring.

"I don't know why a lot of people, especially in the Hispanic communities, don't look beyond that one issue that bothers them and look at, 'am I going to have a job next year?'" said Galicia.

However, local Democratic Party Chairman Jess Durfee told 10News said the Republicans are paying people to register voters who may never show up at the polls.

"Those folks -- if they vote at all -- we don't know how they're going to vote," Durfee said.

Durfee agreed that President Obama was responsible for the 2008 surge in registered Democrats, but he did not agree with Krvaric's idea that the Republican Party had lost its way. Durfee said the Republicans have been preaching the same message for years.

"[The Republican message] won’t work," he said. "It didn't work before. It has never worked... what matters is on November 2nd when we vote and when Democrats win."

http://www.10news.com/news/24848183/detail.html