Luzerne County, a longstanding Democratic bastion in Pennsylvania, has officially shifted to Republican control for the first time in over 40 years. Data released Monday by the Pennsylvania Department of State reveals that Republicans now have a narrow voter registration edge in this pivotal battleground county, and it’s great news for former President Donald Trump.
The latest figures show the GOP with 87,415 registered voters compared to 87,332 Democrats, giving the Republicans a slim lead of just 83 voters, as reported by WVIA. With a total of 203,321 registered voters in the county, there remains a substantial group of 28,574 voters who are either unaffiliated or aligned with minor parties. This includes 22,414 voters with no party affiliation and 6,160 registered with minor parties.
Though the margin is narrow, this shift highlights a trend that’s been emerging over recent election cycles. Despite Luzerne County’s long-standing Democratic dominance, it became a crucial stronghold for former President Trump, who won the county in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. The county’s transition is now seen as a bellwether for upcoming elections in Pennsylvania.
GOP activist Scott Pressler, who has been working feverishly to register Republican voters in Pennsylvania, made the historic announcement on the X platform. “We did it! Luzerne County has flipped red, and this is huge,” wrote Scott Presler on X, a Republican organizer. “Thank you to every single volunteer who worked tirelessly to make this happen.”
WE DID IT!
IT IS DONE!
We flipped Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from ???.
This is monumental, earth-shattering, ground shaking news.
Thank you to EVERY single volunteer that contributed to this victory!
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) September 23, 2024
Republicans are hopeful that this momentum will continue as Luzerne County—and Pennsylvania—once again take center stage in national politics. The last time Luzerne County had a Republican majority over Democrats in a presidential election was on November 7, 1972. At that time, the Pennsylvania Manual recorded 89,679 Republicans compared to 77,432 Democrats.
That year, Richard Nixon won a decisive reelection victory against Sen. George McGovern (D-SD), and Pennsylvania was part of Nixon’s landslide win. However, by 1976, following Nixon’s resignation amid the Watergate scandal, the political landscape in Luzerne County shifted dramatically, with Democrats surpassing Republicans in voter numbers.
In 2016, Republican nominee Donald Trump narrowly won Pennsylvania by just 44,292 votes out of over 6 million cast, giving him a slim 0.72% lead over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. This was the closest margin in a Pennsylvania presidential race since 1840. The state had previously voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992. Trump’s victory was notable because Pennsylvania had not supported a Republican president since George H. W. Bush in 1988, and the state leaned 2.82% more Republican than the national average.
Former President Trump is scheduled to visit Pennsylvania on Monday, where he will hold a policy event in the afternoon followed by a rally in the evening. Trump is prioritizing the battleground state as he seeks to expand his path to victory in the electoral college. Vice President Kamala Harris is also concentrating on Pennsylvania, but recent polls indicate a close contest, with Trump maintaining strong support in this crucial state.