Oct 23, 2012 2 min read

The Republican Party in Washington County picked up 226 more registered voters since the April primary than the Democrats, but Democrats still hold an edge in total number of registered voters.The GOP, however, continues to slowly chip away at the Democratic domination that has been the case since Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. In the four years since the last presidential election year, Democrats, whose ranks numbered 88,379 in 2008, have shrunk to 77,959. During the same time period, Republicans, who had 46,638 registered members in 2008, now count 49,254 members.Through the 1980s, Democrats outnumbered Republicans in Washington County by a ratio of about 3 to 1. Although Washington County has gained residents since the 2000 U.S. Census, the number of registered voters has declined in the past four years.Official Pennsylvania voter statistics showed a total of 152,517 Washington Countians registered. A tally for the county from the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors database Monday had a total of just 142,297.New to the list of “other” political parties in Washington County is one Adarian. The name comes from the Star Wars movies, and according to “Wookiepedia,” Adarians were a species of bipedal humanoids from the planet Adari in the Inner Rim of the galaxy. The number of National Socialists has risen to three from two six years ago. There are two registered Tea Party members, while Green ranks have increased to 146 from 116 a half-dozen years ago. There are 10 fewer Patriots. Those with “no affiliation” number 11,237, up by about 200 from 2006. There are several variations of lack of affiliation, including no party, noncommittal, none, nonpartisan, independents and one undecided voter who listed himself or herself as “I don’t know.” According to the 2010 census, Washington County had 207,820 residents, an increase of 2.4 percent from 2000.