Final Voter Registration Totals In Montco: Dems Expand Large Lead

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — The deadline for voters to register in Pennsylvania passed last week, as the final days of the 2020 general election rapidly approach. Statewide, Republicans saw huge gains, but Montgomery County was an exception.

The GOP did manage to register 8,933 new Montgomery County voters from the June primary until the voter registration deadline on Oct. 19. Democrats, meanwhile, registered 13,760, expanding their already formidable lead over Republicans in the county.

>>GOP Dominates PA New Voter Registrations: County By County Stats

But the long blue stronghold of Montgomery County does not appear to be wavering from the left, and if President Trump wins Pennsylvania in 2020, the GOP will likely be able to thank the dozens of rural counties in the central part of the state where Republicans gained thousands of voters in the last six months and Democrats, in some cases, came away with a net loss for 2020.

Statewide since June, Republicans registered 202,396 new voters, while Democrats registered just 114,497 in that same time frame. That's at least in part a result of the GOP's far more aggressive door to door and outreach campaign amid the pandemic, as Democrats did not begin knocking on doors until October.

However, that's not the full story. Republicans have been making gains in Pennsylvania since 2016. Democrats had around 900,000 more registered voters than Republicans heading into the 2016 election; that lead has been narrowed to around 700,000.

Montgomery County is an even more notable exception in this respect: Republicans have actually lost registered voters since 2016. They had 215,777 registrations four years ago, compared to 210,035 now, suggesting that unlike most of the state, the county has become even bluer under Trump.

Meanwhile, registered Democrats have grown from 272,287 to 300,052 since 2016.

Part of this could also be a reflection of the changing demographics and rapid growth of the Philadelphia suburbs: as young, educated, predominately liberal voters move into areas with new development like King of Prussia, Valley Forge, Conshohocken, and elsewhere, the scales are tipped further in the favor of Democrats. Republicans hold closer margins to Democrats in other suburban counties like Chester, a stronghold of old money with a county government that was historically red until the 2018 midterms.

Of course, voter registrations are not a reliable indicator of exactly how an electorate will vote, as there are hundreds of thousands of undecided voters, independents, and voters who cross party lines on Election Day every year. Despite Pennsylvania having far more registered Democrats, President Trump still won the state by 44,000 votes over Hillary Clinton in 2016.