A new report has revealed that Republicans have registered more new voters than Democrats in a key swing state, leading to speculation that the GOP could make significant gains in the state that President Joe Biden narrowly won by just a 1.17% margin.
Pennsylvania, which is arguably the most important swing state in the November election, has seen a surge in new Republican voters. According to a Tuesday report from Axios, the GOP added 19,127 new voters to their rolls in July. Meanwhile, Democrats only added 17,495 new voters. Looking at all of 2024 thus far, Republicans are leading Democrats in new voter registration by a margin of 94,603 to 87,325, according to state data.
These significant gains for the GOP include Bucks County, an important county to the northeast of Philadelphia where Republicans are finally leading in new voter registration for the first time in 15 years, according to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Bucks county GOP chair Pat Poprik referred to the news as “a morale booster,” noting that “it’s something we’ve been targeting for years.”
However, Democrats are still leading Republicans in total registered voters by a margin of 3.9 million to 3.5 million — though the GOP can rely on a large portion of independent voters to hopefully propel them to victory.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump and his campaign team have been focusing heavily on engaging with voters in Pennsylvania because they truly believe they can take back the state. Trump narrowly lost Pennsylvania to Biden in 2020 by roughly 81,000 votes, while he beat two-time failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania by roughly 44,000 votes. Specifically in Bucks County, Trump lost to Biden by roughly 17,000 votes in 2020 and nearly tied Clinton in 2016.
The Trump campaign and the GOP have also been pressuring the Pennsylvania GOP to embrace both mail-in and absentee voting. While the vast majority of Republicans believe that these two processes are rife with fraud, the fact is that they are legal in Pennsylvania and Democrats are more than happy to take advantage of that — and thus, Republicans need to embrace these strategies or they stand no chance.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley celebrated the SwampTheVoteUSA.com effort launched by the Trump campaign, noting that it “will make it faster, easier, and more secure than ever for patriots in the Keystone State to deliver their mail ballots for President Trump.”
“This is a crucial, cutting-edge development in our sophisticated ground game, which will help deliver President Trump back to the White House and save America,” the RNC chair added.
The effort to register new voters in Pennsylvania and other swing states has largely been led by conservative activist Scott Presler.
Did someone say, “Pennsylvania”?
I’ve been summoned.
Let’s keep registering new Republican voters across PA. pic.twitter.com/pwCk82dPZB
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) August 28, 2024
Presler previously discussed his efforts to flip Pennsylvania in an interview with Jesse Kelly.
“When President Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016, there were 916,000 more registered democrats than Republicans. Today, that lead has been narrowed to 356,000. Last year, we flipped Beaver County. This year, we flipped Bucks & soon will be Luzerne,” he wrote.
When President Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016,
there were 916,000 more registered democrats than Republicans.
Today, that lead has been narrowed to 356,000.
Last year, we flipped Beaver County. This year, we flipped Bucks & soon will be Luzerne.pic.twitter.com/bOvSlpJohc
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) August 15, 2024
