THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410280575
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
The political face of northeastern North Carolina has changed over the past 10 years, with registered Republicans gaining ground in almost every county on the once-dominant registered Democrats.
But despite an increase in GOP affiliates of about 63 percent from 1984 to 1994, registered Democrats in the region still outnumber registered Republicans more than 3-to-1, according to statistics from the state Board of Elections in Raleigh and local elections offices.
The region's largest percentage increase in Republican registration over the past 10 years was in Gates County, where GOP affiliates increased by about 200 percent, from 132 voters to 397. Other counties with large percentage increases in GOP voters were Camden County, where Republican voters jumped by 182 percent; Dare County, 150 percent; Currituck County, 136 percent; and Perquimans County, 98 percent.
Republican registration dropped only in Hyde County, from 253 voters to 216 - a decrease of about 15 percent.
Meanwhile, Democratic affiliation increased in only Dare and Perquimans counties, according to Board of Elections statistics.
The figures are based on voter registration totals for Oct. 8, 1984, and April 11, 1994.
A statewide report of registration on Oct. 17, 1994, was not available, but statistics from the 12 local elections boards, where information for the four-month period between April and October was available, follow the same general trend.
The exception is Camden County, where Democratic Party registration during that period increased by 33 votes, raising the number of that party's affiliates above their 1984 totals when the April to October registrations are added.
The most significant gains in Republican Party registration from April to October were recorded in Onslow County, where the GOP picked up 764 voters from April to October, compared to a Democratic increase of 117; Carteret County, with 554 new GOP voters and 283 new Democrats; Currituck County, with 135 new GOP voters and 104 new Democrats; Dare County, with 167 new Republicans and 130 new Democrats, and Beaufort County, with 163 new Republicans and 144 new Democrats.
The most Democratic county in the region is Northampton County, where Democrats represent 96 percent of the registered voters followed by Bertie and Warren counties, where Democrats are 92 percent of the voters; Tyrrell and Hyde counties, with 91 percent Democratic registration and Martin County at 89 percent registered Democrats.
The most Republican county in the region is Dare County, where GOP voters represent about 42 percent of those registered. Republicans are also concentrated in Carteret County, with about 41 percent of the electorate; Craven County, with 40 percent of registered voters; Onslow County, with 38 percent of the electorate, and Currituck County with 32 percent of the voters.
But Republicans in Gates County, where the percentage of GOP voters increased the most in the area during the past 10 years, still represent only 12 percent of those registered there. ILLUSTRATION: REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS: A DECADE APART
Chart
STEVE STONE/Staff
SOURCE: Oct. 8, 1984 Registration Statistics, state Board of
Elections
[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm for this date on page B2.]
by CNB