Democrats in the U.S. are in decline, plummeting party registrations show.
In 2018, Democrat was the party of choice for 63 percent of voters newly registering as one of the two major parties, the New York Times reported. By 2024, that number dropped to less than 48 percent.
The dwindling registrations are a key predictor of election outcomes, as shown by the last presidential race, noted NYT journalist Shane Goldmacher. In 2024, Trump dominated among men and young voters in areas where registered Democrats were scarcest.
Notably, Democrats weakened substantially over former President Joe Biden’s term in office. From 2020 to 2024, the liberal party lost 2.1 million registered voters in the 30 states (plus D.C.) that allow partisan registration, while the Republican party gained 2.4 million.
During that period, the Democratic party’s nearly 11-point edge over the GOP diminished to about a 6-point edge. (RELATED: Democrats Eye State Senate Takeover — Control Runs Through Milwaukee in Key Races to Watch)
The changes have swept the whole nation, with battleground states growing redder, and Florida flipping cleanly to a Republican majority.
In purple Pennsylvania, Democrats’ registration edge has plunged from 517,310 among active voters in November 2020, to 53,303 voters by the summer of 2025.
Similarly, in the swing state of North Carolina, the Democrats’ edge has dropped from about 400,000 registered voters in 2020, to less than 17,000 by this summer. (RELATED: City of Madison Questions Election Commission Authority After Counting Discrepancy)
“At this particular point, the Democratic brand is in the basement,” acknowledged CNN correspondent Harry Enten. “It is total and complete garbage in the mind of the American public.”
