Democrats activate weeklong voter drive to offset critical registration losses

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Mon 15 Sep 2025 06.01 EDT
Last modified on Mon 15 Sep 2025 11.20 EDT


The Democrats are launching a weeklong bid to register voters nationwide, particularly in battleground House districts as their party grapples with increasing numbers of Americans registering as Republicans.

The nationwide trends in party registration – detailed in an article published in August by the New York Times – heightened concern that the Democrats’ drubbing in the 2024 election was not the one-off result of a chaotic presidential campaign won by Donald Trump and the Republicans, but rather signs of a broader shift by voters away from Democrats.

While the party has in past years left voter-registration efforts in the hands of outside groups, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair, Ken Martin, said now is the time to get directly involved again with a drive he dubbed the National Voter Registration Week of Action.

“Across 27 states and territories, Democrats will be hosting a combined 50 events to register voters and hold Republicans accountable for selling us out to their billionaire backers. We’re building the infrastructure necessary to win everywhere. The work continues now,” Martin said.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/15/democrats-weeklong-voter-drive

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Link to DNC PRESS RELEASE - Democrats Launch Nationwide Voter Registration Blitz Across 27 States with 50 Events

[LuvLoogie]

1. Gosh! A whole week!?

Wow! I mean, Wow!

[awesomerwb1]

2. Hope they don't overexert themselves

with that whole super long, super demanding week.

[moniss]

3. People had better realize

that this needs to be a constant effort from now until the mid-terms.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. I think there have been such continuous drives, but done by dozens of Democratic party-affiliated organizations

This is apparently the first time in awhile that the DNC is actually getting directly involved in "voter registration".

The DNC has spent almost all of their time "fund-raising".

[moniss]

7. Also too often the leadership can forget that

a few hours of their time actually knocking on doors around the country leaves a huge impression that money can't buy.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. I know I have had many canvassers come through my neighborhood

and we probably have one of the, if not the highest % of registered voters who actually come out to vote.

[moniss]

11. Back in the very early 2000's I knew a guy in

a town of just over 23,000 people who was a complete unknown in town and the good old boys had the city council sowed up for decades. He didn't have much money and he didn't get any party backing. He just photocopied his flyer and kept walking the neighborhoods for 2 years straight every day even in the rain and the winter snow. He won the aldermanic race by a large amount because people openly said that the way he approached campaigning and the fact he was willing to put in that much effort and dedication showed them he was the kind of alderman they wanted and instead of the usual tiny turnout the district turnout went over 65%. Scared the hell out of the good old boys.

It works if you work it the saying goes. Glad I was around to see it and got to know him. I'm real old school and I believe in people raising their voices in these "listening sessions" that agencies and leaders have. You need someone who takes their turn to speak and uses it to say to the crowd "I'm going to ask a question or two and I want a loud answer from everybody." Then ask "Are you tired of being lied to?" When they say yes you say "Louder so they can hear!!" and you get them roaring. Then you ask "Do you want change?" Get them roaring again. Then wind it up by asking "If they don't get change are you going to get new leaders?" Get them roaring and do it twice. You show people this isn't going to just be the same old "pat people on the head and go home" dog and pony show.

I did a similar thing at an EPA listening session on PCB and VOC levels. Scared the hell out of the EPA folks who thought this was just going to be a quiet Q&A and hand out some literature sort of deal. We demanded answers about our toxic waste site problems and we got a much improved effort from EPA. Ineffective cleanup people got replaced etc. I'm old but I'm not mute and I won't shut up. Ever. Too old to be afraid of losing anything and too crazy to care about what people think.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. Good story and goood example!

And this is one of the problems when it comes to Congress, where the law that fixed the number of seats in the House to "435", was passed in 1912 when the nation's population was ~92 million. We're now at 340 million so each district is averaging something over 782,000 constituents (for those states that have populations that high, otherwise they get an at-Large seat).

The number of seats MUST be increased to handle the modern population as it's obvious that it's impossible to get that "door to door" feel from the candidate.

[moniss]

13. Great point. nt

[Silent Type]

4. Hope they took a few minutes to discuss why voters might be registering GOPer, rather than Democratic.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. I think it's more that voters are registering as "Unaffiliated" or "Independent" vs GOP

Meanwhile, the GOP has been scraping the bottom of their barrel to get extra voters.

[progree]

8. Dems lost a total of 2.1 million registered voters from 2020 to 2024. Meanwhile, the Republican party gained 2.4 million

From the OP-linked article,

While not all states allow voters to register by party, the Times analyzed data from the 30 that do and found that Democrats lost a total of 2.1 million registered voters from 2020 to 2024. Meanwhile, the Republican party gained 2.4 million registered voters. The losses were broad-based, occurring in both battleground states and those dominated by one party or the other.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. But that doesn't mean that they were Democrats becoming Republicans

From Gallup - Party Affiliation

Americans' Party ID

In politics, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat or an independent?
Annual trend since 1988

(image description)
[The table presents the percentage of Americans identifying as Republican, independent and Democrat from 1988 to 2024. In 1988, 31% identified as Republican, 33% as independent and 36% as Democrat. In recent years, from 2020 to 2024, the percentages have remained relatively stable. In 2024, 28% identified as Republican, 43% as independent and 28% as Democrat, showing a slight increase in independent identification and a decrease in both Republican and Democrat identification compared to previous years.]

Table with 4 columns and 37 rows. Currently displaying rows 1 to 25. Sorted descending by column "X.1"

.............Republican...Independent.....Democrat
...................%...........%..............%
2024..............28..........43.............28
2023..............27..........43.............27
2022..............28..........41.............28
2021..............27..........42.............29
2020..............29..........39.............30

(snip)

(now I feel like you! )

[progree]

14. The Gallup poll: "do you consider yourself...". The Guardian quote in #8 is about registration

(also the registration was that of 30 states)

Just in case anyone is confused, like I was for awhile.

I notice when Gallup additionally asked independents and others about their leanings, then

In politics, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat or an independent? (If independent, other party, unsure or no answer: As of today, do you lean more to the Democratic Party or the Republican Party?)
Shown are % party identifiers + leaners

From 2020 to 2024 Republican/Republican leaner increased from 43% to 46%,

while Democrat/Democrat leaner decreased from 48% to 45%.

The 2025 numbers will be very interesting when they come out.

Gallup link for convenience of reference: https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx