WHERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS? Almost zero registered in Lee County in 6 weeks

In a 40 day period from May 31 to July 9, almost no one registered to vote as a democrat in Lee County.

Fox 4 analyzed the numbers and found in that period:

• 1,397 people registered as Republicans
• 622 people registered as 'Other' or No Party Affiliation
• 29 people registered as a Democrat

Those numbers are far above the roughly 2:1 advantage Republicans have over Democrats in total registered voters in Lee County.
"If a Democrat would get 40% of the vote in the local election in Lee County or Collier County, people would sit up and take notice," Bergerson said.

I reached out to the Lee County Democratic Party who referred me to the state democratic party for comment on the voter number disparity, but have not yet heard back.

Bergerson says it has always been such a predominately Republican-leaning county and that registered Democrats used to stand a chance in Lee County local elections 30 years ago. However, he says now the chance for a registered Democrat to win a local seat is slim to none.

Bergerson says many factors play into this, no state income tax and Covid are two of the main reasons.

"The economic status of individuals who are coming here tend to be middle class or upper-middle class or higher even. Subsequently, they're the ones that are concerned with the tax situation that we have here and it's clearly an advantage for them," said Bergerson.

We asked Bergerson if President Joe Biden's performance in the first presidential debate could have played a role in the Lee County registration numbers. He said it's possible, but he also pointed out the number of people who registered 'Other' or No Party Affiliation. He believes those voters could play a big role statewide in Novemeber.

"In this area, most of them are going to vote Republican, but it's statewide... We'll see," said Bergerson.

To register or change your party affiliation, the deadline for the Primary Election is July 22.