Local voters may be coming back to major political parties after a few years of registering independent or skipping the party question on voter-registration forms.
Statewide, voter registration is up 5 percent since the 2014 general election.
In Pima County there are about 3 percent more Republican voters, about 7 percent more Democratic voters and nearly 5 percent fewer people who didnβt pick a party, according to voter counts released Monday by the Arizona secretary of state leading up to the primary election next week.
The number of registered Republicans was greater than the number of independent or no-party-designated voters for the first time since January 2014, Secretary of State Michele Reagan said in a statement.
βThese numbers seem to indicate voters are reengaging with the political parties for this election cycle,β she said. She theorized that many independent voters switched to a party designation before the presidential primary back in March and didnβt change back afterward.
Party officials from both sides said the better voter numbers show interest in the presidential race; however, the presidential candidates remain unpopular. About 32 percent of adults in a nationwide Gallup poll viewed Donald Trump as favorable, and 42 percent said Hillary Clinton was favorable.
Parralee Schneider, the Arizona Republican Partyβs first vice chair, was preparing a new Republican Victory Office on Tucsonβs east side Monday. She said the party will βtake advantage of the momentumβ to organize voter-registration drives, including one at a gun show this weekend.
She said the numbers could be saying people are less indifferent about party politics and more excited about a new kind of candidate who has a different way of talking and a different kind of experience.
Bill Roe, the Arizona Democratic Partyβs first vice chair, had just finished a retreat with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He said heβs never seen this level of energy and excitement.
The Democrats, too, are sending teams out to register new voters, including meeting people out playing the popular βPokemon Goβ game.
Congressional District 2 tipped a little bluer and a little less independent in the latest numbers.
Voters in this district, which includes part of Pima County and Cochise County, are 34 percent Democrat now, compared to 32.6 percent in the general election in 2014, when Republican Martha McSally won by 167 votes.
In legislative districts in the Tucson area, Democratic strongholds in the south- and west-side District 3 and the central Districts 9 and 10 registered a higher portion of Democratic voters compared to 2014.
In the strongly Republican northwest-side District 11, the share of Republican voters grew to 39 percent, up from 36 percent.
Find the Starβs primary election guide at
Election deadlines The deadline to register to vote in the November general election is Oct. 10. Early voting begins Oct. 12 and Election Day is Nov. 8.
