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As voters go to the polls today in Fayette, Westmoreland, Washington and Greene counties, there will be more registered Republicans casting ballots than in the past elections.

According to the local election bureau figures, Republican voter registration numbers continue to climb at a faster pace than their Democratic counterparts throughout the four counties.

Pollster Dr. G. Terry Madonna, Franklin and Marshall College Politics and Public Affairs director, said it is decadelong trend taking place in rural areas, like southwestern Pennsylvania.

Since January, 346 former Democrats have changed their voter registration to Republican in Fayette County, while 145 registered Republicans opted to join the Democratic Party.

In 2016, 2,109 Democratic Fayette County residents switched their party affiliation to Republican, while 216 Republicans changed over to the Democratic Party.

Westmoreland County, too, saw continued party switching among its voters, said Beth Lechman, election bureau director.

A total of 581 voters changed from Democratic to Republican, with 191 Republicans switching to the Democratic Party.

In Washington County, 291 Democratic voters opted to switch party affiliations with 88 Republicans doing likewise.

While the pace has dwindled, Tina Kiger, Greene County Election Bureau director, said 53 Democratic Party registrants moved to the Republican Party with 21 GOP members moving to the Democratic Party.

Last year, 317 Greene County residents opted to sign on with the Democratic Party with 653 people with the Republican Party.

Despite the changes, the four counties sustain their long-standing Democratic majority.

In Fayette County, the margin remains at 44,417-25,996 while in Westmoreland Democrats outnumber Republicans by 112,145 to 104,238 margin, according to state Department of Elections figures.

The margin between registered Democrats and Republicans continue to decrease in Washington County with less than 12,000 voters separating the two parties. Greene County, too, is seeing a narrowing margin between the two parties with state registration figures showing 11,795 Democrats and 7,995 Republican voters.

Beth Melena, Pennsylvania State Democratic Party deputy press secretary, said Democrats remain committed to their party and the candidates that will appear on todays ballot.

Pennsylvania has a Democratic registration edge of more than 815,000 voters thats greater than the entire population of North Dakota, she said. We have an excellent slate of highly qualified men and women running for statewide judicial seats this year who are committed to serving the people of Pennsylvania and who are dedicated to transparency and integrity. Democrats are fired up and talking to their neighbors, their friends, and their communities about their values and what they believe in, and that is the key to ensuring that Democrats go on to electoral victories this year and in the years ahead.

Madonna, meanwhile, attributes the voter registration trend to a growing chasm among those residing in the larger cities to those opting for a more rural lifestyle.

Although evolving over time, the divide between urban and suburban Pennsylvania and rural and small towns in the state was made crystal clear in the fall presidential election, he said.

You had the classic urban and suburban candidate in Hillary Clinton and the rural and small town candidate in Donald Trump, he said. (Trump) carried 56 of the 67 Pennsylvania counties.

He won the northeast and southwest (portions of the state) that put him over the top and gave him the 44,000-vote edge. These are rural and small town pieces of Pennsylvania and voters who are the working class, with high school educations or less, and families that were displaced due to coal mine and steel mill closures that were a part of the great industrial revolution that went away.

The strategy of the Trump campaign to offer support to the typically Democratic rust-belt states like Pennsylvania, resonated with voters, added Madonna.

(Trump) was the first candidate since Bill Clinton, in 1992, that campaigned among them; talked about bringing back manufacturing and talked about bringing back coal and steel, he said.

Democratic voters, like GOP members, too, were responsive to Trumps stance on moving the XL Pipeline project forward, exiting the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Madonna added.

(It was these Democratic voters that became) his core supporters, and that is where we see the Republican voter registration go up, he said.

Turnout is critical in any race, said Madonna, noting that Democrats turned out in large numbers for former President Barack Obama in 2004 and 2008, but did not for Clinton in her presidential bid.

However, both long-time and new Republicans ramped up their efforts to put Trump over the top.

It takes an advantage for one party and a downturn for the other (for success), said Madonna.

Trumps support, too, was likely bolstered by his campaign visits to rural areas that would typically cast their ballot for the Democratic nominee, he added.

As to whether Republicans will see continued success today at the polls will be determined by the voters, said Madonna.

Ill be watching, he said.

Polls will be open until 8 p.m.

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Republicans narrow registration gap with Democrats in advance of primary election - Uniontown Herald Standard