Voters cast their ballots at Reno High School for the Nevada primary on June 14. Photo: Trevor Bexon/Getty Images
More than 1 million voters in 43 states switched to the Republican Party in the last year, while 630,000 became Democrats, AP found based on voter registration data.
Why it matters: It may be a new sign of a red wave brewing ahead of this fall's midterms.
Driving the news: The party switches were most significant in the suburbs, where well-educated swing voters who didn't support former President Trump in 2020 appear to be returning to the Republican Party, per AP.
- But the party switches were evident across the board — in red states and blue states, cities and small towns and suburban areas, AP found.
- Of the nearly 1.7 million voters who changed parties in states with available data over the last year, some two-thirds went to the GOP.
- "Biden and Democrats are woefully out of touch with the American people, and that's why voters are flocking to the Republican Party in droves," RNC chair Ronna McDaniel told the AP.
Between the lines: One outlier was in Virginia, where Democrats saw an uptick in registered voters.
- Yes, but: Democrats experienced wide-scale defeat during last fall's statewide elections, AP notes.
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