For the first time since they have been keeping track of these things, Democrats outnumber Republicans in Riverside County. And while the county has been trending blue for a while now, officials say that the campaign of Donald Trump has residents flocking to the Democratic party.
The Press Enterprise reports on the numbers, which were released Tuesday, showing 347,713 registered Democrats and 346,309 registered Republicans in Riverside County, a gap of 1,404 voters. It is the first time since records started being kept in 1999 that Democrats have outnumbered Republicans.
The campaign of Bernie Sanders is credited with bringing many new, young voters to the party – but officials also credit a certain wall-loving, orange Republican for the surge in new Democrats.
County Democratic Party Chairman Howard Katz told the newspaper that voter backlash against Trump is “absolutely” helping to register Democratic voters. The chairman for the Democratic Party in Orange County, which has also seen a boom in newly registered Democrats, told The Orange County Register that Trump “has become our best marketing tool.”
