Congressional district’s GOP voters down 4 percent since 2006.
The number of registered Republicans in the 10th Congressional District has dropped below the 50-percent mark for the first time in decades.

The shift, reflected in the latest registration totals for the district, is significant since the district was redrawn in 2000 to heavily favor Republicans who have held the seat for 54 of the last 58 years.

Registered Republicans in the sprawling district that encompasses all or parts of 14 northeastern and central Pennsylvania counties, now stands at 206,093, or 48.7 percent. That’s a drop of about 4 percent from 2006.

The number of Democrats increased about 2 percent in that time frame, now showing a total of 171,263, or 40.5 percent of the registered voters. Third-party candidates or those who list themselves as unaffiliated climbed nearly 2 percent, totaling 45,527, or 10.8 percent.

“Like the rest of Pennsylvania and the country, Northeast and Central Pennsylvania is trending Democratic. We are proud that new voters are registering as Democrats and previous Republican voters are changing their affiliation,” state Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney said in a release.

The latest registration figures are being viewed positively by Democrats and supporters of freshman incumbent U.S. Rep. Chris Carney of Dimock Township. Carney will face Republican Chris Hackett in the November general election.

“We’ve always been confident that Congressman Carney would be overwhelmingly re-elected in November. The new voter registration figures further indicate that (the district) is no longer the GOP stronghold it once had been,” said Rooney.

Ken Spain, press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the drop isn’t a major concern since the Republicans still lead by “a pretty wide discrepancy.” He said Carney’s grip on the seat is not a tight one and the first-term congressman will be “out of a job” next year.

Democratic Party officials and a Carney staffer point out that Carney received more votes in the April 22 primary than the two Republican candidates combined. Carney tallied 70,824 as the unopposed Democratic candidate – 6,287 more votes than Hackett and opponent Dan Meuser gained together. In unofficial totals, Hackett received 33,760 votes to 30,777 for Meuser.

Spain said the primary election totals were skewed because the Democrats had a contested presidential race while the GOP nomination was already unofficially sewed up by U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Rebecca Gale, Carney’s communications director, sees the numbers as part of a trend.

She cited polls showing high favorability for Carney from both Democrats and Republicans; Carney’s higher primary vote count, and the registration shift.

“We’ve got across-the-board bipartisan support and we’re proud of it,” Gale said Friday night.

“I am proud to represent both Republicans and Democrats in Northeast and Central Pennsylvania,” Carney said Friday night. “The primary process has certainly registered new voters and engaged more people in the political process, which is what democracy is all about.”

Hackett spokesman Mark Harris said the latest statistics don’t concern him or the party.

“Nope, not raising a red flag at all,” Harris said. Most of the percentage drop can be attributed to the change of parties by Republicans wanting to vote in the Democratic presidential race, he said. The state party is undergoing an effort to make sure those voters change their affiliation back to Republican, according to Harris. But, even if they don’t make the switch by the Nov. 4 general election, they could still vote for Hackett, he said.

He expects some Democrats and third-party voters to support Hackett.

“Our message resonates across the board,” Harris said.
10th District:

Encompasses parts of Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming and Tioga counties and all of Bradford, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Union, Wayne and Wyoming counties.

Andrew Seder, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7269.