Republicans Take Voter Registration Lead In Key Swing State For First Time Since 2007

In a notable shift in Nevada’s electoral landscape, the Republican Party has achieved a slim lead in active voter registrations over Democrats, marking the first lead for the party since 2007.

As of February 2026, Republicans hold 596,356 active registrations, compared to Democrats’ 593,740, giving the GOP a lead of 2,616 voters. Nonpartisan voters, however, remain the largest group, with 799,056 registrations, accounting for approximately 37.5 percent of the total 2,128,758 active voters in the state.

Nevada voter registrations just droped! 🚨🚨🚨

The GOP has a +2,616 advantage over Democrats for active voters on the rolls!

🔴GOP: 596,356

🔵Dem: 593,740

This is the first year since 2007 in which there are more active Republicans than Democrats in the state. pic.twitter.com/H6xlhEXSTw

— Ben Larrabee (@Ben_Larrabee) February 9, 2026

The latest figures add to a number of positive voter registration data points, as well as massive electoral wins for Republicans, in The Silver State.

From 2010 onward, Democrats maintained a consistent advantage in registrations, often by substantial margins. For example, in 2012, statewide totals showed Democrats at 635,419 and Republicans at 504,974, a gap of over 130,000, according to data from the Nevada Secretary Of State’s Office.

By 2020, Democrats had maintained a voter registration lead of over 100,000 over the Republican Party.

The gap began narrowing in subsequent years, however. By November 2024, the Democratic Party’s advantage had shrunk to fewer than 6,000 voters.

This reversal has continued into 2026, after Democrats lost about 33,500 registered voters in the previous year. Republicans also dropped around 26,200 registrations, however, while independent/non-affiliated registrations continued to account for a growing segment of the Nevada electorate.

The rise of independent voter registrations correlates with the introduction of automatic voter registration in 2020. Under this system, individuals interacting with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles are automatically registered unless they opt out, with nonpartisan as the default if no party is selected.

As a result, independent voters have accounted for the largest eligible voting bloc in Nevada since 2023. From January 2020 to mid-2023, automatic registration added nearly 569,000 new voters, with over 64 percent of new registrations classified as independent, according to data analyzed by The Nevada Independent.

A 2025 change in DMV procedures, which no longer allows party selection at the point of service and instead transmits data for later processing, further accelerated nonpartisan voter growth. In Clark County alone — the state’s largest county — 94 percent of new 2025 registrations were nonpartisan.

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, a Republican, speaks with attendees at the 2024 FreedomFest at Caesars Forum Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada
Photo: Gage Skidmore

The last time Republicans held a voter registration lead in Nevada was in 2007. Before that, Republicans had occasionally led, such as in the mid-1990s when they outnumbered Democrats for the first time since the 1930s.

At the state level, the Republican Party has seen consistent success in gubernatorial races. Since 1998, Republicans have held the governor’s office for most terms, with the exception of Democrat Steve Sisolak’s single term from 2018 to 2022.

In terms of federal races, Republican candidates narrowly unseated Democrat incumbents in 2022 and 2024. Also in 2024, President Donald Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to carry Nevada since 2004.

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