Posted on 11/22/2010 3:16:55 AM PST by Moseley
Recent voter registration statistics have now largely answered a lively debate within Delaware’s Republican party about the reasons for Republican losses on November 2, 2010.
Mike Castle would likely have lost the 2010 election if chosen as the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, Republican candidates for all offices in Delaware faced a fundamentally more hostile electorate in 2010 than ever existed in past years.
Democrats added 29,650 voters — a staggering 11% increase — from 2008 to 2010 in a highly-aggressive voter registration drive by the Democrat Party of Delaware.
Known as “the First State” for ratifying the US Constitution first, Delaware is nevertheless a lightly-populated, mostly agricultural oasis. Only 305,716 votes were cast for US Senate in Delaware. Therefore, the 29,650 increase in Democrat voter registration represents almost 10% of all votes cast for US Senate. It may be assumed that newly-registered voters are likely to vote.
2010 election results for all Delaware offices may be largely explained by the failures of the Delaware and national Republican party to engage in party-building and voter registration, compared to an aggressive and effective party-building operation by Democrats.
Total registered Democrat voters in July 2008 were only 264,167 voters for the entire State of Delaware. Democrats managed to increase total Democrat registered voters by 29,650 — an astonishing 11% increase — to 293,817 Democrat voters registered for the 2010 elections.
Increases in Democrat voter registrations did NOT come (on net) from Republicans switching parties. The Democrat Party aggressively registered new, first-time voters.
During the same period from 2008 to 2010, Republican registered voters increased by 4,153, and “Others” increased by 10,516. Therefore, the Democrats 29,650 voter increase does not represent (on net) Republicans switching to Democrats, but represents entirely new voters who had not previously voted in Delaware elections.
By comparison, Democrats showed a similar successful drive in prior years. Democrats increased registration from 2007 to 2008 by 14,451, while Republican increased registration from 2007 to 2008 by only 1,389, and “Others” increased by 1,286 voters.
Meanwhile, weaknesses in the Republican party’s core operations at the national level were just exposed by a controversial resignation letter by the Political Director of the Republican National Committee. Gentry Collins described an inadequate effort of party-building and fund-raising at the Republican National Committee.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45193.html
Voter registration totals from 2010 are published online at: http://elections.delaware.gov/services/candidate/regtotals.shtml
For 2008 at: http://elections.delaware.gov/services/candidate/more_regtotals.shtml
And therein lies the ultimate nail in Michael Steel’s (career) coffin.
We are being beat at the fundamentals of retail politics.
Hey, establishment GOP stooges - being a leader actually takes hard work!
The GOP fell asleep and allowed the Democrats to snatch away a seat from them in Delaware.
Can you say Stupid Party?
And GOP RINO Leadership refused to engage and support COD on the state and national levels.
These facts shows corruption runs deep and wide in the GOP beltway crowd! IMHO
How many of the 29,650 newly registered Dems were legal citizens?
WOW! Great question!
Delaware and parts of Southern/Central Jersey are filled with Illegals. The article touched on the reason - AGRICULTURE.
O’Donnell won the southern two, largely agricultural, counties. She lost the northern, more urbanized north.. There was a precinct in Newark where, in a local office race the Democrat won by 4000 + votes to 100+ votes. That’s right forty to one ;97% to 3 %. Newark is not the inner-city core where that can be excused. It must be U of D students. If the Republicans aren’t examining that precinct for voter fraud, they’re crazy.
For that matter, how many were actual living, breathing humans?
“...Democrats’ Massive Voter Registration Drive”
It might very well be that a Democrat voter registration drive involves the registering of illegal residents, cartoon characters, the dead, and figments of the imaginations of Democrat party operatives.
It’s ironic that if anyone complains or questions it, they are immediately and loudly accused of disenfranchising
voters. Yet, military absentee ballots are considered to be tainted by Democrats, or some sort of trivial and inconsequential batch of papers that are without merit.
Absolutely amazing.
IMHO
The GOP fell asleep and allowed the Democrats to snatch away a seat from them in Delaware
Maybe the GOP didn’t want to stomp around the grave yards of Delaware looking for voters.
This still does not explain the 15-20 point lead Coons had over O’Donnell leading up to the election. Unless the polls included newly registered first time voters who were very committed to voting on election day.
LLS
RINOs within this disfuncional party would rather lose a seat then get a conservative elected....I say we return the favor....DO NOT VOTE RINO....
The DE GOP is resisting reform efforts. These idiots must go. The state leadership should join the crowd & register as Democrats. The DE GOP needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Wondering if some districts had 110% turnout, absentee votes that were not valid, and machines with thousands of votes already registered for the dems.
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