 |
| Not so long ago |
(OC Reg)
MARTIN WISCKOL
• Democrats have closed the gap by holding its voter share while GOP’s older voters die and are replaced on the rolls by young, independent voters — and to a lesser extent, by Republicans re-registering as independents. In 1990, Republicans edge over Democrats was 56 percent to 34 percent. Today, it’s 34.7 percent to 33.5 percent.
• As recently as 2002, voters under 34 favored the GOP 42 percent to 29 percent. Today, people of that age favor Democrats 38 percent to 20 percent. Voters ages 35 to 44 also favor Democrats. Voters 44 and older prefer the GOP, with the Republican advantage biggest among those over 70.
• In 2002, Latinos were 18 percent of registered voters and favored Democrats over Republicans 53 percent to 28 percent. Today, they are 20 percent of voters and prefer Democrats 52 percent to 17 percent.
• In 2002, Asians were 9 percent of registered voters and favored Republicans 40 percent to 31 percent. Now they are 15 percent of voters and prefer Democrats 30 percent to 29 percent. While Republicans still have the edge among Vietnamese, Democrats are more popular among East Indians, Filipinos and Koreans. Chinese and Japanese are almost evenly divided.
