[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

The California Secretary of State issued an update of voter registration figures late yesterday that bode very well for Democratic gains in the November election and show the state is turning even more Democratic from the level of the State Assembly to the Presidential race. There’s an increase in the overall percentage of Californians registered to vote and the trend goes one way—blue.

In January, at the close of registration just before the February 5, 2008 Presidential Primary, California Democrats had a 10 point advantage over Republicans, 43% to 33%. This has now increased to a 10.7% margin as Democrats picked up their percentage of registrants and are now 43.5% compared with Republicans who dropped to 32.8%.

This shows that even after the Presidential Primary, which has seen tremendous enthusiasm and growth in the Democratic Party, not only here in California but across the nation, there is a clear trend favoring the Democrats. It isn’t just the presidential race that is driving these numbers.

But even more significantly, there are gains in key state legislative districts where past elections have been close.