With less than a month to go before the Nov. 8 General Election, Republicans continue to make significant inroads into the Democrats’ voter-registration lead in Pennsylvania.

This holds true in each of the five counties in the Times News area when the most recent figures are compared to Feb. 1 of this year.

It was not that many years ago that Democrats had more than a million more registered voters than Republicans statewide; now, the number is about half of that - 542,072. There were 4,014,812 registered Democrats compared to 3,472,740 registered Republicans as of Oct. 3. In addition, there were 934,671 nonaffiliated voters.

In our local counties, here are the comparisons over the last eight months:

Carbon: 6,002 more Republicans than Democrats now, compared to 5,251 more Republicans on Feb. 1, a gain of 751.

Schuylkill: 20,765 more Republicans now vs. 19,465 more Republicans on Feb. 1, a gain of 1,300.

Monroe: 11,312 more Democrats than Republicans now, compared to 11,708 more Democrats on Feb. 1, a Republican gain of 396.

Northampton: 17,360 more Democrats than Republicans now vs. 18,262 more Democrats on Feb. 1, a Republican gain of 902.

Lehigh: 28,946 more Democrats than Republicans now, compared to 31,307 on Feb. 1, a Republican gain of 2,361.

Republicans also have made inroads in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, but Democrats still have the edge. In Lackawanna, it’s more than 34,000 - 81,274-47,236, while in Luzerne, it has dropped to less than 10,000 - 93,004-83,629.

This narrowing of the voter registration lead could play out in the two area Congressional districts held by Democrats.

7th District (all of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties and part of Monroe County): With the narrowing voter-registration edge for Democrats, Carbon County, which is new to the district, looms larger than ever with its increasing leaning toward Republican candidates. This has led to a dog fight between Democrat incumbent Susan Wild, who is seeking her third full two-year tern, and Republican challenger Lisa Scheller, a rematch from 2020 in which Wild won by about 14,000 votes. As of Oct. 3, the Democrats’ voter registration lead had shrunk to 38,715 - 228,163-189,448.

8th District (the rest of Monroe County and all or parts of several northeastern Pennsylvania counties, including Lackawanna and Luzerne): Democrat Matt Cartwright is seeking his sixth two-year term, but most political analysts call the race a toss-up. The Republican candidate is Jim Bognet, whom Cartwright defeated in 2020, 52%-48%. Democrats lead in voter registration in the district by 47,362 - 236,798-189,436.

9th District (all of Schuylkill County and all or parts of counties stretching from Luzerne in the north to near Harrisburg in the south): The district is deemed to be solidly Republican, and Dan Meuser, the Republican incumbent, is expected to breeze to victory and secure his third two-year term over a virtual unknown, Democrat Amanda Waldman. The Republican voter registration lead in the district has ballooned to 128,198 - 272,750-144,552.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.