(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, says Democrats have a long way to go to be competitive in Iowa when it comes to voter registrations. “Republicans are up almost 100,000 more Republicans since 2016,” Pate said. Pate discussed voter data during an appearance this weekend at a fundraiser for Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

“For the first time in my adult life, Republicans outnumber the no-party as well as the Democrats,” Pate said. At the beginning of September, there were nearly 462-thousand “no party” or independent voters in Iowa compared to over 634-thousand active registered Republicans — that’s a difference of over 170-thousand. Pate, who has been Iowa’s top election official for the past seven years, says the number of active Democratic voters in Iowa is down about 85-thousand since 2016. “So when you hear their party chairman claiming they’re on a rebound, they’ve got a long ways to rebound,” Pate said.

Iowa Democratic Party chairwoman Rita Hart has said party registrations in the Democratic column has grown since Kamala Harris became the party’s presidential nominee. According to data on the secretary of state’s website, the number of active Democrats in Iowa grew by about 19-hundred from August 1st to the beginning of September. The number of registered independent or “no party” voters grew the most during the past month — by nearly 85-hundred.