The exciting contest for the Democratic nomination for President has created millions of new Democrats.
Tuesday, the Associated Press reported on this
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iyCjg56QEYy3r8Gz2X09TnpaWOMwD90FSOB00
But there is a local angle also – the race is creating new Prime Democrats!
Using our Prime New York voter file, I have identified 276,076 Democrats who voted in this year’s Presidential Primary who have never previously voted in a Primary – that’s almost 30% of those who voted.
Who are these Prime Democrats and how are they different than other Democrats?
1 – Not surprisingly, they are younger. 12% of the Democrats whose first Primary was Clinton-Obama are under age 25 versus 6.5% of all Democrats and 39% are under 35 versus 24% of all Democrats.
2 – 62% of the new Primes are Women versus 59% of all Democrats, one reason, I guess, that Hillary won…
3 – I was surprised to see that the percentage of the new Primes who are Black was just a little over 30% – basically the same as the Black percentage of all Democrats.
4 – 27% of the Clinton-Obama Primary voters have not only never voted in a Primary but also did not in any previous election, including the 2004 or 2004 Presidential elections.
5 – Of course, some of these new Primary voters couldn’t have voted in the early primaries or elections because they are really new voters, as 9% have registered since the 2007 General Election and were not able to vote previously.
What does this mean for the future of New York politics?
That’s a big unknown.
Will these Democrats, now that they have for the first time, engaged in a Primary, keep it up?
How many will vote this year in whatever Primaries there are for Congress, State Legislature or Judge?
Will many get involved in the 2009 Mayoral Primary?
I and other involved in Democratic politics await the answers.