Edition – I – Issue – 75 – A1 | Front Page | January 12-18, 2014 #BattleOfOurTimesTimes #Archive

Cenla MLK Events | A TRIBUTE TO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

A1 | Front Page | January 12-18, 2014 |Previous Front Pages |

VOTERS SKEW AWAY FROM MAINSTREAM PARTIES

BY MARSHA SHULER
January 12, 2014

The number of registered Democrats continues a steady decline as 2014 Louisiana elections approach and U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu — the only statewide Democratic officeholder — runs for re-election.

A decade ago, registered Democrats represented 56 percent of the state’s then 2.87 million voters. Today, the number sits at 47 percent — 1.38 million voters out of 2.9 million registrants. More than 250,000 white voters have left Democratic ranks during the past 10 years, about 150,000 since Landrieu last ran in 2008. The Democratic Party is now majority black in terms of voter registration.

While Republicans are winning major state elections and gaining registrants, those registered as “other party” or not registered with any political party are climbing, too, as voters distance themselves from either of the mainstream political parties.