How red -- or blue -- is our Valley?

Is the San Joaquin Valley a bastion of the Republican brand? The latest voter registration report issued by the California Secretary of State indicates that the answer is, well, yes and no.

Republicans continue to outnumber Democrats in the Valley as a whole in the number of registered voters – 612,997 to 563,823, or 43 percent to 39.5 percent in the eight-county region. But the Republican bent doesn’t hold true in the northern part of the Valley, where three counties – Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus – now have more registered Democrats than Republicans.

Additionally, four counties saw a decline in the number of registered Republican voters since February 2007, compared to only one county seeing a decline in registered Democratic voters. Still, the Republican advantage remains rock solid in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties.

What does it all mean? Share you thoughts by commenting below or sending me an e-mail at mlukens0404@gmail.com.

Valleyfornia has compared the April report with a report issued by the Secretary of State in February 2007. Here are some interesting findings:
-- The total number of registered voters in the Valley has grown to 1,426,743, an increase of 17,692.
-- Republicans accounted for 43.2 percent of registered voters in February 2007, Democrats for 38.9 percent and decline to state 13 percent.
-- Stanislaus County saw a significant shift, as Democrats gained 6,121 while Republicans lost 1,122.
-- San Joaquin County saw a decline in total registration, Democrats, Republicans and decline-to-state during the period
-- The number of registered Republicans declined in Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties; the number of registered Democrats declined in only San Joaquin County.
-- Decline-to-state voters increased in every county except San Joaquin.
-- Merced County had 41,783 registered Democrats in April - -the exact same number as February 2007.

Here is a county-by-county breakdown:
Fresno County
Total registration – 350,369, up 15,067 from February 2007
Democrats – 140,000, up 8,452
Republicans – 151,370, up 43.
Decline to state – 44,784, up 5,327

Kern County
Total registration – 283,732, up 2,961
Democrats – 101,580, up 1,593
Republicans – 133,400, down 1,522
Decline to state—39,522, up 2,273

Kings County
Total registration – 44,212, up 1,123
Democrats – 16,522, up 146
Republicans – 20,862, up 737
Decline to state – 5,303, up 257

Madera County
Total registration – 50,953, up 1,035
Democrats – 17,694, up 825
Republicans – 24,143, down 321
Decline to state – 7,227, up 424

Merced County
Total registration – 91,342, down 1,443
Democrats – 41,783, no change
Republicans – 35,160, down 2,834
Decline to state – 11,634, up 1,203

San Joaquin County
Total registration – 252,092, down 12,714
Democrats – 108,628, down 3,747
Republicans – 99,427, down 7,686
Decline to state – 34,875, down 745

Stanislaus County
Total registration – 216,799, up 9,977
Democrats – 89,066, up 6,121
Republicans – 86,066, down 1,122
Decline to state – 31,859, up 4,015

Tulare County
Total registration – 137,244, up 1,686
Democrats – 48,013, up 1,687
Republicans – 64,091, down 834
Decline to state – 20,275, up 822