Florida Republicans close in on Democrats' voter registration numbers

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Polls show Trump, Biden 2020 race tightening in Florida

Palm Beach Post politics editor Antonio Fins weighs in on the presidential race.

Republican voter registrations in the battleground state of Florida are closing in on Democratic numbers after Republicans hit a party record with nearly 58,800 new voter registrations, Politico reported.

A total of 5,020,199 Floridians were registered Republican as of Aug. 31, compared to 5,203,795 registered Democrats, according to data on the Florida Department of State website.

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Registration for Florida Democrats is 6% lower than it was in August 2016, according to Politico. Meanwhile, Republicans' monthly add represented a 91% increase over August 2016, according to Politico.

Republican pollster Ryan Tyson told Politico his analysis shows that 119,000 more Florida Democrats have converted to Republicans or independents than vice versa since 2016.

In this March 17, 2020 file photo, voters head to a polling station to vote in Florida's primary election in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

"When we manage to get 57,000 new registrants in a month, it’s historic. And a lot of that is just organic,” Tyson told Politico. “Something’s in the water and with 41 days out of the election, we find ourselves beating the Democrats at their own game.”

With 29 electoral votes at stake, Florida’s the largest – and one of the most important – of the traditional swing states.

An aggregate of polls from RealClearPolitics shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden with a 1.3-point advantage over President Trump in Florida.

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Trump narrowly edged out 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to carry the state four years ago. President Obama also won the state by razor-thin margins in 2008 and 2012.

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.