by J.D. Davidson
There are nearly twice as many registered Republicans in Ohio as Democrats, but most Ohio voters are not affiliated with any political party.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose released the new numbers based on the March primary election.
Party affiliation in Ohio is determined by voting in a specific party’s primary election within the preceding two calendar years or not voting in a different party primary within the preceding two calendar years.
The statewide voter registration database shows the state with 8.1 million registered voters. Of that, 1.5 million are Republicans and 817,063 are Democrats.
Unaffiliated numbers 5.7 million.
Based on the March primary, 441,870 Democrats kept their affiliation, while 841,266 Republicans stayed with the GOP. Also, 37,543 Democrats switched to Republicans, while 20,845 Republicans switched to Democrats. There are 188 Libertarians who switched to Republican.
Republicans picked up 284,948 new unaffiliated voters, while Democrats gained 114,079.
At the same time, Democrats lost 302,404 voters to unaffiliated, while Republicans lost 160,827 and Libertarians lost 1,545.
The 88 county boards of election provide party affiliation numbers in the statewide voter registration database.
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An Ohio native, J.D. Davidson is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience in newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher. Davidson is a regional editor for The Center Square.
