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Seminole County flips from red to blue

Updated: 8:09 PM EDT May 27, 2021

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THE WESH 2 APP. TURN ON THE ALERTS FOR UPDATES ON SEVERE WEATHER IN YOUR AREA. -- IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. POLITICAL HISTORY IN CENTRAL FLORIDA TONIGHT. SEMINOLE COUNTY HAS FLIPPED FROM RED TO BLUE. THERE ARE OFFICIALLY MORE REGISTERED DEMOCRATS THAN REPUBLICANS, AND ITS BELIEVED TO BE THE FIRST TIME EVER. AFTER SEVERAL CLOSE RACES IN NOVEMBER THIS COULD MEAN BIG CHANGES IN THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE. SUMMER: WESH 2 POLITICAL REPORTER GREG FOX BREAKS IT DOWN , AND HOW LEADERS IN BOTH PARTIES ARE RESPONDING. TRUMP: AS ONE UNITED PEOPLE. GREG: IT STARTED IN 2016, WHEN HILLARY CLINTON BARELY LOST TO DONALD TRUMP. >> WE MADE OUR POINT LOUD AND CLEAR. GREG: THAT SAME YEAR, STEPHANIE MURPHY PULLED OFF A COLOSSAL CONGRESSIONAL UPSET OVER JOHN MICA. THE TURN WAS CEMENTED BY JOE BIDENS DEFEAT OF TRUMP LAST NOVEMBER. [APPLAUSE] THE LAST TIME THAT HAPPENED? HARRY TRUMANS VICTORY IN 1948. SEMINOLE COUNTY, HISTORICALLY REPUBLICAN, HOME OF RONALD REAGAN BOULEVARD, IS NOW BLUE. THOUGH THE REPUBLICAN ELECTIONS SUPERVISOR WOULD ARGUE ITS PURPLE. >> ITS ACTUALLY KIND OF A PERFECT STORM FOR SEMINOLE COUNTY, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE YOU DONT HAVE A DOMINANT PARTY. YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS THAT DO NOT WANT TO CONNECT TO EITHER PARTY. GREG: THERE ARE 118,306 REGISTERED DEMOCRATS, AND 117,999 REGISTERED REPUBLICANS. INDEPENDENT VOTERS ARE GETTING CLOSE, WITH 98,796, AND THOSE OF OTHER PARTIES NUMBER 6600. THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NOW MORE REGISTERED DEMOCRATS THAN REPUBLICANS IN SEMINOLE COUNTY COULD HAVE HUGE RAMIFICATIONS AS SOON AS NEXT YEARS MIDTERM ELECTIONS, WHICH WILL ALSO HAVE STATE HOUSE AND SENATE RACES. AT LEAST DEMOCRATS HOPE ITLL MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE, AFTER LOSING A SENATE AND 3 HOUSE SEATS LAST YEAR. >> OUR GOAL OF COURSE IS TO ELECT DEMOCRATS. SO YES WE HAVE TO HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE REGISTERED TO VOTE, BUT WEVE GOT TO HAVE GREAT CANDIDATES AND GET THOSE DEMOCRATS AND NO PARTY PEOPLE OUT TO VOTE. GREG: PASHA BAKER, WHO JUST LOST A STATE HOUSE RACE, SAYS THE NEW REGISTRATION NUMBERS WILL ENCOURAGE MORE DIVERSE CANDIDATES TO RUN. >> WE JUST WANT THOSE IDEAS, THE METHODOLOGY AND DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES TO PARLAY INTO GOVERNMENT. >> IM CONCERNED THAT THIS DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE WOULD TA OVER OUR COUNTIES. GREG: REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER SCOTT PLAKON IS TERM-LIMITED. SO HIS WIFE, RACHEL, IS RUNNING FOR HIS SEAT NEXT YEAR. SHES BETTING SEMINOLES INDEPENDENT VOTERS LEAN CONSERVATIVE. >> A LOT OF THESE INDEPENDENTS ARE WOMEN, SO I HOPE THAT I WILL BE ABLE TO REACH OUT TO THEM. GREG: SEMINOLE NOW JOINS ORANGE AND OSCEOLA AS THE ONLY BLUE COUNTIES IN THE REGION. GREG FOX, WE

Seminole County flips from red to blue

Updated: 8:09 PM EDT May 27, 2021

Seminole County is now officially a "blue" county, and it's believed to be the first time ever.That's when it comes to voter registration.Right now, there are just over 118,300 registered Democrats, and just under 118,000 Republicans.No party affiliated voters are getting close, approaching 100,000. The trend started in 2016 when Hillary Clinton nearly beat Donald Trump in Seminole County. Last November, Joe Biden became the first Democrat since Harry Truman in 1948 to win the county.Chris Anderson, the Republican elections supervisor, said he considers Seminole County to be "purple.""It's actually kind of a perfect storm for Seminole County, you know, because you don't have a dominant party. You actually have a group of individuals that do not want to connect to either party," Anderson said. Seminole now joins Orange and Osceola as the only blue counties in the region.

Seminole County is now officially a "blue" county, and it's believed to be the first time ever.

That's when it comes to voter registration.

Right now, there are just over 118,300 registered Democrats, and just under 118,000 Republicans.

No party affiliated voters are getting close, approaching 100,000. The trend started in 2016 when Hillary Clinton nearly beat Donald Trump in Seminole County.

Last November, Joe Biden became the first Democrat since Harry Truman in 1948 to win the county.

Chris Anderson, the Republican elections supervisor, said he considers Seminole County to be "purple."

"It's actually kind of a perfect storm for Seminole County, you know, because you don't have a dominant party. You actually have a group of individuals that do not want to connect to either party," Anderson said.

Seminole now joins Orange and Osceola as the only blue counties in the region.

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Seminole County flips from red to blue - WESH 2 Orlando