The California Republican party shrunk by about 400,000 registered voters, or 8 percent, during the last four years, even as the number of Democrats stayed flat and unaffiliated voters grew, according to figures released Monday by the California Secretary of State.
About 4.7 million California voters are registered as Republicans, down from 5.1 million at this point in 2012. Republicans now make up about 27.6 percent of the electorate, down from 30.4 percent four years prior. No county in the state now has a majority of its electorate registered as Republicans.
By comparison, about 7.44 million Californians are registered as Democrats, a very slight increase from 2012. Democrats are 43.1 percent of the electorate, down slightly from 43.4 percent as the party did not grow as fast as the population.
The number of Californians registering as independent grew fast: about 500,000 more voters are unaffiliated today than in 2012. With 24 percent of the electorate, the number claiming "no party preference" are on pace to surpass the number of Republicans within two or three years.
These are long term trends also occurring in the Sacramento region. Since 2000, the proportion of the electorate registered Democrat has fallen by 3 percentage points; the proportion registered as Republican by 7 percentage points and the proportion registered as independent has grown by 10 percentage points.
California will hold a primary election on June 7. This chart shows political party registration trends since 1999. Sacramento Bee Data Tracker