Democrat’s voter registration lead edges closer to 1 million

Democrats’ voter registration advantage over the GOP continued to rise in February, keeping a pace that will likely see them outnumber Republicans by more than 1 million before the year’s primaries.

The state now has 989,043 more Democrats than Republicans, according to voter registration statistics released by the Secretary of State Tuesday.

In February, New Jersey added 10,986 Democrats and 4,923 Republicans. Unaffiliated voter registration rose by 7,672.

Democrats are also on pace to outnumber the state’s unaffiliated, or independent, voters, whose registration lead over the state’s controlling party fell to 64,918 in February.

February’s registration figures mark a significant uptick in the pace of registration. In January, just 1,577 Democrats, 772 Republicans and 3,290 independents were added to the rolls.

In the first five months of 2016, Democratic voter registration rose by 106,021. The state added 50,535 Republicans over the same period, while unaffiliated registration fell by 139,858.

In November 2013, when Republicans last won a statewide election, Democrats’ registration lead was a comparatively meager — but still massive — 732,706.

Gov. Chris Christie won that race by 468,954 votes.