SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ California's electorate stands at 18.8 million voters _ larger than the combined voter rolls from 2016 of almost two dozen U.S. states, according to a report issued Thursday.
At the same time, the percentage of registered Republicans in the state fell to a new low, with the number now almost equal in size to the voters unaffiliated with any political party.
The report by Secretary of State Alex Padilla tallies almost 1.2 million voters compared with the same point before the 2014 statewide primary. The total represents 75 percent of Californians who are eligible to vote, an increase from recent years.
"It's exciting to see the highest percentage of eligible Californians registered to vote in decades," Padilla said in a written statement. There will be one more report before the June 5 primary. The deadline to register to vote in that election is May 21.
While both major political parties lost ground from the last state registration report issued in January, Republicans are now inching perilously close to being the third largest bloc of California voters. The state survey shows only 28,649 more GOP voters than those who have registered as having "no party preference," the official designation for independent voters.
Eight years ago, in the last open race for governor, there were almost 2 million more Republicans than unaffiliated voters. By comparison, there are about 900,000 more Democrats in the state than there were in 2010.
The last time a GOP candidate won a statewide race in California was in 2006, and the party is fighting to hold on to its 14 congressional seats this election season _ especially since voters in seven of those districts chose Hillary Clinton over then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016. In three of those congressional districts with Republican incumbents, the largest group of voters are Democrats.
