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Politics

San Diego's Political Character Continues To Change

San Diego's Political Character Continues To Change
2009 was not an election year but San Diego’s political parties continue to build on their strengths in preparation for battles ahead. The political make-up of San Diego County continues to change.

2009 was not an election year but San Diego’s political parties continue to build on their strengths in preparation for battles ahead.

The political make-up of San Diego County continues to change. Registered Democrats narrowly outnumbered Republican voters at the beginning of the year, reversing a long tradition of Republican dominance in the region.

Jess Durfee, Chair of the San Diego Democratic Party, says that reversal was not a temporary phenomenon.

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“We’ve been monitoring that closely," he says. "And are happy that a year later we now have more than 8,000 more Democrats than Republicans, so that number continues to grow slowly but steadily. The Republicans have not been able to close the gap or reverse the trend.”

The margin of difference is small considering 1.4 million people are registered to vote in San Diego County. Voters in the unincorporated areas of the back country are still predominantly registered Republican.

The fastest growing category is that of the 345,000 San Diegans who decline to state their party affiliation. That’s almost one in four of all those registered to vote in the County.