Dems have numbers in Delco, but do they have the voters?

It's hard to think of Delaware County as a Democratic stronghold.

OK, you can stop snickering now.

I'm serious. The numbers tell us that Dems are now the majority party in Delco. Just don't tell anyone in the Media Courthouse.

As has been the case now for the past few years, there are more registered Democrats in the county than GOP loyalists.

According to the latest registration figures from the county Bureau of Elections, there are almost 5,000 more Democrats than Republicans registered to vote in Delco.

Just don't look for them to be packing the polls on May 19 for the primary election.

Here's the scoreboard:

169,376 registered Democrats.

164,649 registered Republicans.

That gives the Democrats a 4,727 edge. You can get all the details here.

So all the Dems have to do to reverse their fortune is get their voters to the polls, right? It's not that easy, and no one knows that better than David Landau. He's the head of the county Democratic Party, and he knows that turnout is the key.

And for good reason. Delco Democrats may now be the majority party, but they have yet to crack the GOP fortress knows as the County Courthouse.

There is a reason for that. And Andy Reilly knows it. The county GOP chairman notes that while the raw numbers in the county now tilt to the Democrats, the fact is that more Republicans still go to the polls.

That is especially true in the primary and non-presidential year elections.

There are three seats on County Council up for grabs, along with several seats on the County Court of Common Pleas. Democrats have been reduced to running write-in campaigns to get their trio of County Council candidates on the ballot after their nominating petitions were found to be flawed.

It's pretty likely they will manage to get the 250 votes needed to get on the general election ballot in November. Winning is another thing.

Democrats have made some strides in recent years. They now routinely take the county in presidential races. They also have snagged some seats in the state Legislature. But they have had no luck in getting their candidates elected to county office.

That's because the county Republicans do more than register, they actually vote. That's especially true in off-year elections such as the one looming in the fall.

Don't look for Democrats to use their voter majority to capture a seat on the all-Republican County Council. I'll believe that when I see it.