The blue wave is here: Democratic turnout is already up 84% from 2014

Resistance to Trump’s disastrous presidency has produced historic enthusiasm among progressive voters — and that has caused participation in Democratic primary contests across the country to explode in 2018, according to the Pew Research Center.

Pew’s analysis found that an eye-popping 84 percent more people voted in Democratic House primaries in 2018 than in 2014, NBC News reports. 13.6 million people voted in 2018, compared to 7.4 million in 2014.

Republican primary voting totals are also up this year, but by much less — just 24 percent.

A spike in primary votes this year doesn’t guarantee a record turnout in November. But the trend so far is clearly a hopeful one for the Democratic party.

In June, the New York Times reported that Democratic turnout had bested Republican turnout in more than 120 congressional districts.

“That turnout pattern is highly encouraging to Democrats who hope to flood the polls in November and unseat Republicans, even in districts that typically lean to the right,” the Times noted.

A key reason for the huge increase in participation is the huge increase in Democratic candidates willing to challenge Republican incumbents this election cycle.

When exciting new candidates emerge to challenge the old guard, that can boost voter participation.

This enthusiasm gap appears to be the exact opposite of what happened in 2010, when Republican voters produced a red wave election cycle and Democrats lost 63 House seats, handing Republicans control of the House.

In three key states for this year’s midterm cycle — California, Iowa, and Ohio — Pew found that Democrats are posting significant gains.

In Iowa, primary turnout is up a staggering 152 percent — with 110,000 more Democrats voting in primaries this year compared to 2014. And not only that, but Republican primary participation is also down 57,000 votes this year.

It’s notable that Iowa farmers are currently taking a beating from Trump’s senseless trade war.

In California, where many incumbent Republicans fear losing their seats, primary election participation is up 84 percent among Democratic voters. In Ohio, Democratic voting is up 67 percent in primaries across the state.

Specifically in Ohio’s 12th District, where a special election is being held on Tuesday, there was a huge 144 percent increase in the Democratic primary vote back in May.

A Democratic win in the 12th District, a seat that has been almost entirely under Republican control for the last eight decades, would confirm what all the primary voting data suggests about Democratic voter enthusiasm in 2018.

The blue wave is here, and it’s coming for Trump.