Some lean left, and some to the right, and the math in the state of Ohio Just may tell the story of Election Year 2024.
According to statistics released in May by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Ohio is home to just over 8 million registered votes with 1.5 million registered Republicans, 817,000 registered Democrats, and 5.7 million “unaffiliated” – or independent – voters.
Eight years ago in the Mountain State, 374,931 West Virginians were registered as Republicans, according to Mac Warner’s SOS Office, and that figure swelled to 477,656 by the May 14th Primary. During the exact timespan, Democratic voter registrations declined by 38 percent, 577,977 in 2016 to 357,918 in 2024, and the number of “not affiliated” – or independents – grew by 15 percent, from 254,265 to 293,030.
What’s the story of the stats?
Loudly and clearly, more and more folks right here in an awakened Appalachian region are sick of the games between the country’s two “primary parties.” Instead, those voters are positioning themselves smack-dab in the middle to search for those who make the most sense, and that’s why “Independent” voters have been minimized with labels like “unaffiliated” and “not affiliated.”
See, Democrats and Republicans don’t want Independents to count for much, and the West Virginia GOP’s executive committee even voted to limit the party’s 2026 primary only to party members in another attempt to squelch some American’s right of free speech by impeding upon their right to vote.
Is it criminal, yes, but it’s not enforceable because no one in power makes and approves that kinda legislation.
But Independents vote and Independents decide races, and with the party’s recent growth, bipartisan voters should be counted and considered by those currently campaigning for the November 5th vote.
Now, of course, an Independent’s ideas might be confusing to a lot of today’s elected officials, but that’s only because some suggestions might make some sense thanks to something called compromise.
