A week before the Oklahoma primary, new voter registration numbers released by the Tulsa County Election Board provide insight about which ballot boxes voters will stuff on March 1.
According to election board secretary Patty Bryant, 9,801 Tulsa County residents registered to vote for the March 1 primary from Jan. 1 - Feb. 22.
The vast majority of those voters are first-time registrants. Bryant says 6,356 Tulsans signed up before Tuesday's showdown for both Republicans and Democrats. Of those, 46 percent registered as Republicans, 34 percent as Democrats and 20 percent as Independents.
"A lot of it tells me that people are newly signing up to vote for Trump," says University of Tulsa Assistant Professor of Political Science Matt Hindman.
While Trump is quick to grab the headlines and holds a five-point lead in the latest Sooner Poll, Hindman also says the numbers for Democrats and Independents are important to consider when looking at the most recent data.
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"Almost six out of ten, 55 percent, are registered as either Democrats or Independents. All of those people can vote in the Democratic primary. So that's a lot of new people, as well, who are eligible to vote for Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton. A lot of the newly registered voters will probably vote for Sanders," Hindman says.
That would be money well spent for Sanders if the voters do in fact come out to support him. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Sanders is outspending Clinton two to one in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
Still, a recent Sooner Poll shows Clinton ahead of Sanders by 15 points. That poll also shows the Vermont senator is gaining ground on Clinton.
In addition to those who find themselves registering for the first time, the numbers from the Tulsa Co. Election Board also show residents who've jumped parties.
Bryant says 1,367 voters switched the R, I or D next to their name in favor of a new party. Out of that pool, nearly 50 percent joined the GOP.
"To me, that indicates that people really want to get in there and vote for Trump. People that would like to vote for Rubio or Cruz or planned to vote for Rubio or Cruz were probably already registered Republicans," Hindman explained.
The remaining 2,058 registrants kept their parties but either changed their names or addresses, Bryant said.
Sanders heads to Tulsa Wednesday. He'll hold a rally at the Cox Business Center at 4 p.m.
Senator Marco Rubio will join Trump in Oklahoma City on Friday, Feb. 26.
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