Iowa Democrats and Republicans gain voters, independent voters decrease
The Iowa Democratic and Republican parties both gained voters over the past month, while the number of voters with no party affiliation dropped significantly.
According to data from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office, the Democratic Party gained more than 27,000 registered voters from June to July, bringing the total number of active Democratic voters in Iowa to 527,675. Despite Democratic gains, Republicans still hold a strong statewide advantage in voter registration with 711,587 active voters, gaining more than 17,000 registered voters over the past month.
The largest change in voter registration occurred among voters affiliated with no party, as the number of registered independent voters decreased by more than 32,000. As of July 1, there are 555,309 active independent voters in Iowa.
“I think part of what’s going on is that people changed their registration to reflect a party preference so they could vote in the party primary,” Karen Kedrowski, an Iowa State University political science professor and Carrie Chapman Catt Center director, said. “These are not really new voters. They’re probably independents who lean Democratic or Republican and changed their party registration to be able to vote in the primary.”
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/briefs/iowa-democrats-and-republicans-gain-voters-independent-voters-decrease/