Gap widens in Oklahoma between number of Republicans and Democrats

Two high-profile defections from the Oklahoma Republican Party last year don't appear to have hurt GOP voter registration.

The number of registered Republicans in Oklahoma increased by 114,013 in the last two years, according to the State Election Board's annual voter registration report.

The number of registered Democrats decreased by 41,533 during the same time period.

More: Oklahoma schools Superintendent Hofmeister to challenge Stitt for governor as a Democrat

The number of registered independents is up 48,977 and the Libertarian Party gained nearly 7,000 new voters.

Of registered voters in Oklahoma, 50.6% are Republicans, 31.4% are Democrats, 17.2% are independents and less than 1% are Libertarians.

The latest voter registration numbers show the Republican Party, which became Oklahoma's majority party in 2020, remains the dominant political force in the state.

Last year, state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, a longtime Republican, renounced the party and registered as a Democrat to challenge Gov. Kevin Stitt in this year's gubernatorial election. Gubernatorial candidate and former state Sen. Ervin Yen, once a registered Democrat, left the Republican Party to become an independent.

All told, Oklahoma has 128,267 more registered voters than it did two years ago for a total of 2,218,374 people registered to vote.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Republican Party sees voter registration gains