San Bernardino County goes "blue"

RIALTO - San Bernardino County, the largest county by land area in the United States, has officially turned "blue" once again, with more registered Democrats than Republicans for the first time in more than seven years.
 
Weekly voter registration statistics released Monday morning show 314,452 Democrats and 311,576 Republicans. Democrats registered 2,976 more voters than Republicans in the last week alone, the largest weekly gain for San Bernardino County Democrats in more than a decade.
 
On Oct. 11, the county party celebrated the achievement with California Democratic Party Chair Art Torres and Lt. Gov. John Garamendi.
 
"We can't forget about California," Torres said after touting the national party's prospects in the U.S. Congress and Senate. "We have to concentrate on the Inland Empire. We're going to turn John McCain blue on eleciton day."
 
Garamendi said the news represented a watershed moment for California Democrats.
 
"This is a message that's going out all across the state," Garamendi said. "When a county that's been in the Republican ranks for a long time switches over to Democrats, it's a sign that will be noticed around this nation."
 
Democrats now represent 39.55 percent of registered voters, less than one-half percent more than Republicans.
 
Garamendi, who is running for governor in 2010, emphasized the importance of continuing the voter registration surge.
 
"Ultimately, it will bring us a Democratic governor," Garamendi said, "and I hope to be that person."

UPDATE: Hector Barajas, spokes for the California Republican Party, dismissed the significance of Democratic gains.

"Numbers don't vote, people do," Barajas said. "I would be interested to see how many of these registrations are duplicates, dead voters or of the canine type."