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GOP registration push leaves Democrats lagging in Valley The Republican surge in part represents a strong Republican dislike for Davis, local election officials and GOP activists say. It's also spurred in part by the star power of actor and gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, who will greet voters at 4:30 p.m. today at the River Park shopping center. He also will stop at a Fresno school and an agriculture operation. In his few public appearances, Schwarzenegger has been mobbed by onlookers. People who rarely or never vote say they will this time -- because of Schwarzenegger. On Wednesday, he also picked up the endorsement of Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, who plans to vote no on the recall but yes on Schwarzenegger. The local Republican surge -- which isn't a statewide trend -- started while signatures were being gathered for the recall. "There was an ongoing voter registration effort that was part of the recall petition signing," Fresno County Clerk Victor Salazar said. Now, he says, voter registration cards are coming in fast. Beyond that, however, is a more troubling trend for Democrats, not just in Fresno County but across the Valley. In Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare counties, Republicans are gaining new voters while Democrats are losing voters -- lots of voters in Fresno County's case. Democrats in the county have lost 11,500 registered voters in the past year while Republicans have gained 8,302. Local Democratic Party activist Billie MacDougall is at a loss to explain the hemorrhaging. "I'm shocked. I don't know why we've lost." Some Democrats may be switching to the Republican Party. But overall, there are actually fewer registered voters county-wide now than a year ago, and the Democrats seem to have been hit hardest by the decline. MacDougall said there is a limited number of reasons: Voters have been purged from the rolls because they died or have not been voting, they moved or they've changed to another party. Assistant Registrar of Voters Kathy McClue said the county tries to purge its rolls twice a year. At times, up to 20,000 people have been removed from Fresno County's voter rolls. In the meantime, Republicans are paying professionals to register new voters. It's a similar story in Tulare County, were Elections Division Manager Hiley Wallis said a steady stream of registration cards are coming into the office. Republicans have added about 2,000 voters there in the past year, while the Democrats have lost about 300. In Madera and Kings counties, it's the same story. Republicans have posted registration gains while Democrats have posted similar losses. It's all part of a Valley trend. A decade ago, Fresno County Democrats had a 55,000 edge in registrants. That was cut to 10,099 in February 2000, and by October of that year, Republicans overtook Democrats for the first time in memory. The Democrats briefly retook Fresno County last year, but the GOP quickly recovered. A few years ago, Kings County went Republican as well. Fresno and Kings were the last stand of Democrat-dominated counties in the southern San Joaquin Valley. As recently as 1992, Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced and Tulare counties. Now only Merced remains Democratic.
Kings County Elections Manager Ed Rose, a 27-year elections veteran, recalled a quarter-century ago, when Democrats outnumbered Republicans by a
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