There are about 8,000 more registered Republicans in Hillsborough County than last year, though Democrats still outnumber GOP voters by more than 50,000 in Hillsborough, records show.

The Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office has unofficially closed the books on voter registration ahead of Florida's 2012 Republican presidential primary, with 231,740 Republicans having filed as of Tuesday. That's up from 223,342 Hillsborough Republicans in 2010.

Only registered members of the Republican Party are eligible to vote for a Republican candidate in the Jan. 31 primary.