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Top Republicans Panic as Dems Take ‘Astronomical’ Lead in Early Mailed Ballots, Says Report
Top GOP officials have reportedly been sent into a blind panic after seeing numbers showing that Democratic voters in key states are returning mail-in ballots at much, much higher rates than Republican voters. According to The Washington Post, the Democratic lead in mail voting is so extreme that it’s led to urgent discussions among senior GOP officials. “It’s astronomical,” said one unnamed Republican strategist, who added that he was left “horrified” by the numbers.
Of the more than 9 million voters who requested mail ballots through Monday in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maine and Iowa, the five battleground states where such data is publicly available, 52 percent were Democrats. Twenty-eight percent were Republicans, and 20 percent were unaffiliated.
Additional internal Democratic and Republican Party data obtained by The Washington Post shows a similar trend in Ohio, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.
Even more alarming to some Republicans, Democrats are also returning their ballots at higher rates than GOP voters in two of those states where that information is available: Florida and North Carolina.
The wide Democratic lead in mail voting so far has been the subject of urgent discussions among top GOP officials, according to people familiar with the conversations.
The margins are “stunning” — and bad news for Republicans up and down the ballot, said longtime GOP pollster Whit Ayres. While the Republican Party is focused on getting voters out on Election Day, he noted that older voters who have traditionally supported Republicans are most concerned about being infected with the novel coronavirus and could choose to stay home if the outbreak intensifies as the election nears.
The trend has emerged after Trump spent months assailing voting by mail, making unsubstantiated claims that it is prone to corruption and fraud —attacks that have resonated with Republican voters, polls show. State and local Republicans, fearful of losing what has long been a key turnout advantage for the GOP, spent the past few months racing to reassure voters that voting by mail was safe, despite the president’s rhetoric.
But GOP voter distrust in mail ballots now appears to be translating into an advantage in early voting for former vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, and for Democratic challengers in close Senate races in Maine, Iowa and North Carolina.
Top GOP officials have reportedly been sent into a blind panic after seeing numbers showing that Democratic voters in key states are returning mail-in ballots at much, much higher rates than Republican voters. According to The Washington Post, the Democratic lead in mail voting is so extreme that it’s led to urgent discussions among senior GOP officials. “It’s astronomical,” said one unnamed Republican strategist, who added that he was left “horrified” by the numbers.
Of the more than 9 million voters who requested mail ballots through Monday in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maine and Iowa, the five battleground states where such data is publicly available, 52 percent were Democrats. Twenty-eight percent were Republicans, and 20 percent were unaffiliated.
Additional internal Democratic and Republican Party data obtained by The Washington Post shows a similar trend in Ohio, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.
Even more alarming to some Republicans, Democrats are also returning their ballots at higher rates than GOP voters in two of those states where that information is available: Florida and North Carolina.
The wide Democratic lead in mail voting so far has been the subject of urgent discussions among top GOP officials, according to people familiar with the conversations.
The margins are “stunning” — and bad news for Republicans up and down the ballot, said longtime GOP pollster Whit Ayres. While the Republican Party is focused on getting voters out on Election Day, he noted that older voters who have traditionally supported Republicans are most concerned about being infected with the novel coronavirus and could choose to stay home if the outbreak intensifies as the election nears.
The trend has emerged after Trump spent months assailing voting by mail, making unsubstantiated claims that it is prone to corruption and fraud —attacks that have resonated with Republican voters, polls show. State and local Republicans, fearful of losing what has long been a key turnout advantage for the GOP, spent the past few months racing to reassure voters that voting by mail was safe, despite the president’s rhetoric.
But GOP voter distrust in mail ballots now appears to be translating into an advantage in early voting for former vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, and for Democratic challengers in close Senate races in Maine, Iowa and North Carolina.
