Democrats expand registration lead over GOP

Democrats tripled their narrow voter registration lead over the GOP at year's end - to 1,226.

According to figures released by the Secretary of State's Office, Democrats have added to that slim lead since they passed the Republican Party in statewide registration last September.

Before that, Republicans had enjoyed the number one position in registered membership since October 1995.

Both parties are striving to increase membership before the 2000 elections because the lawmakers elected in November will set boundaries for legislative districts that will influence political control of Nevada for the next decade. In the process, they have managed to increase the total number of registered voters in the state by nearly 14,000 in just three months.

The Democrats claimed the lead in September, pulling ahead of the GOP by just 122 out of a total of 901,890 voters in the state. They spread that to 475 by November.

The most recent voter registration numbers, for the end of December, show there are now 1,226 more Democrats registered in Nevada than Republicans.

The two major parties are still so close that those registered in other categories actually hold the swing vote in any close election. Of 913,954 total registered voters at the end of December, 757,740 were split by the two major parties.

Of the remaining 156,214, some 27,000 were registered with minor parties and 129,488 listed themselves as "nonpartisan."

The Democratic lead is carried by a better than 37,000-voter margin for the party in Clark County. Clark, Lincoln, Mineral and White Pine counties have more Democrats than Republicans. Republicans lead in all other Nevada counties with the biggest margin being a 2:1 majority in Douglas - 14,552 Republicans to 7,344 Democrats.

Carson City had 12,104 Republicans at year's end and 8,480 Democrats.