Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one. According to CNN, this year’s primary turnout is showing that Democrats are more motivated than Republicans to vote. I mean, who wouldn’t want to vote against the other party, right? It’s like they say, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” or in this case, “the enemy of my party is the reason I’m voting.”
The numbers are pretty interesting, with voter turnout surging in Democratic primaries through the first half of 2026. It’s creating a primary electorate that’s more Democrat-heavy than in 2018, when Democrats took control of the House during Trump’s first term, or even in 2022, when the GOP took back the House during Joe Biden’s term. I guess you could say Democrats are feeling pretty motivated, bless their hearts.
CNN analyzed the votes reported in 20 states through noon on July 2, and the results are pretty telling. Of those states, 57% of primary voters were cast in Democratic primaries over Republican primaries, which is up 10 points from the same states in 2022 and 3 points relative to 2018. The popular vote was evenly split in these states in the 2024 presidential election, but it looks like Democrats are trying to change that.
Now, I know what you’re thinking – can we really draw conclusions from primary turnout? I mean, primaries across election years are often not directly comparable, and an increase in primary votes in a state may be the result of a more competitive election in the current cycle. But with primary votes now cast in more than 30 states ranging in size, geography, and political alignment, there’s a clear pattern: turnout is up across the board in Democratic primaries.
The turnout advantage for Democratic primaries has also been consistent across states, particularly when compared to 2022. And it’s not just that – turnout has also tended to increase in both parties’ primaries relative to 2018. Of the 20 states analyzed, 16 had increases in turnout in Democratic primaries and 14 had increases in Republican primaries. Relative turnout in Democratic primaries has been higher than relative turnout in Republican primaries in 18 of 20 states compared to 2022 and 12 of 20 states compared to 2018.
It’s also worth noting that Americans have held consistently negative views of both parties during Trump’s second term, including a substantial minority of the Democratic base that views their own party negatively. But despite all the negative sentiment, Democratic voters are still turning out in droves. Democratic candidates have generally outperformed 2024 presidential margins by a considerable amount in House special elections and statewide races.
In conclusion, it seems like Democrats are feeling pretty motivated to vote, and their turnout numbers are reflecting that. Whether or not this will translate to the general election remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure – it’s going to be an interesting election season. And who knows, maybe all this motivation will pay off for the Democrats. After all, as the saying goes, “you can’t win if you don’t play,” and it looks like Democrats are playing to win. 🙄
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
