Active voters totals DOWN in Iowa from March to April - Republican active voters, however, are now greater than Dems in the state. Foreboding well for God's Own Party? Independent active voters still the largest cohort, so, I'd say, "NO."

Iowa GOP voter registration surpasses Democrats 

for first time in six years

After an effort to clean up the voter registration rolls, the GOP has ended up with a nearly 4,000 voter advantage over Democrats in Iowa after being down about 3,000 last month.

It’s the first time Republicans have been ahead of Democrats in active registered voters in about six years, records show.

The news prompted Iowa GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker to tweet: “Iowa Turns Red!” But Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky noted Iowa is still a purple state – independent voters still outnumber both political parties.

New data published today by the Iowa Secretary of State shows there are 611,990 active registered Republicans and  607,999 active registered Democrats. That means the GOP is ahead by 3,991 voters, according to records updated through the end of March.

But the records also show that each political group – Democrats, Republicans and independents – lost numbers between last month and this month, records show. Republicans just lost fewer than Democrats.

The shift follows a “maintenance effort” by Republican Secretary of State Matt Schultz in February and early March. The effort to improve the accuracy of the voter rolls used post cards to confirm voters’ addresses and voting status. Those with an unverified address were bumped from the active rolls.

Last month, Democrats had a slim lead, with 3,325 more active registered voters than Republicans.

July 2006 was the first time Democrats had been ahead since 1994, The Des Moines Register reported at the time. On Aug. 1, 2006, there were 606,168 active registered Democrats statewide and 590,165 Republicans.

The year 2006 was when the Democrats took control of the Iowa Senate and Iowa House, and Democrat Chet Culver cruised to victory in the governor’s race.

There are currently about 9,800 more active registered Republicans in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, where two incumbents, Democratic U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell and Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Latham, are battling it out in a tight race.

And Republicans have a deep advantage – more than 46,000 active voters – in the 4th Congressional District, where newcomer Christie Vilsack, a Democrat, is trying to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King.

All in all, the new registration numbers reflect Iowa’s trend back from blue to purple, but this isn’t a slam dunk for Republicans, political operatives said. The GOP caucuses prompted thousands of independent voters to move Republican. GOP operatives said they hope Iowa only grows redder before the November general election.

Dvorsky, the Democratic party leader, said Iowa Democrats remain excited about reelecting President Barack Obama, but independents dominate Iowa. Recent polling shows independent voters, especially women, “abandoning Mitt Romney,” she said. The latest USA Today/Gallup poll shows Romney trailing Obama among women by more than 18 percent in battleground states, including Iowa, she pointed out.

Here’s the statewide shift in the last month:

March: 

Active Rs: 626,901Active Ds: 630,266Active independents: 701,941 

April: 

Active Rs: 611,990 (down 14,911)Active Ds: 607,999 (down 22,267)Active independents: 678,704 (down 23,237)