After a Century, Democrats Ready to Take the Lead in Delco

Delaware County has always—always—been a Republican hotbed, but that’s no longer the case. Like the state of Pennsylvania (which used to be a “swing state)  it’s leaning ever-more-noticeably left. Now we have proof. The Inquirer reports:

As of Thursday, a difference of a mere 19 registered voters separated the two major parties – with 169,719 Republicans and 169,700 Democrats. The numbers represent a statistical dead heat, with each having 44 percent of the total number of registered voters.

Delaware County Democratic Party Chairman David Landau said that while the trend is “all good,” it means only that the party has a larger pool of registrants. The numbers don’t guarantee election wins; the real work comes in getting the voters to the polls, he said.

“We have our work cut out for us,” Landau said. Party members are out knocking on doors in preparation for the upcoming election, with seven county seats up for grabs. “We feel the voters in the county are ready for a change,” he said.

Republicans say the numbers are misleading—that once dead,departed, or otherwise inactive voters are factored in, they still have a 2,500-vote advantage in the county. Still, even that number is pretty narrow after a century of GOP rule, no?