By Matt Arco and Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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Democrats in the Garden State and beyond hoping for a blue wave this November can look to New Jersey's voter registration as a sign of encouragement.

That's because New Jersey is getting bluer.

The number of registered Democrats outpaced Republicans by more than 100,000 people between the 2016 primaries and now, according to statistics from the state's Division of Elections. Democrats enrolled 193,590 new party members between July 2016 and July 2018. Republicans only added 92,865.

What's more is Democratic registration increased in three of the four congressional districts the party hopes to flip this November in a midterm election seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump.

"This has been a trend," said Ben Dworkin, director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship. "It's part of a trend that we've seen in the last decade. NJ is blue and getting bluer. These voter registration trends reflect NJ's changing demographics, as well as the hyper partisan of our current political climate."

Overall, the Democratic registration advantage in New Jersey, which also holds a U.S. Senate contest this fall, grew by about 100,000 to 2 million voters, compared with 1.2 million Republicans.

The state's largest voting bloc are unaffiliated voters, who number 2,346,178.

Here's a district-by-district breakdown of the changes in voter registration between the two major parties:

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1st District | Norcross v. Dilks

Democrat Rep. Donald Norcross faces a challenge from Republican Paul Dilks.

This overwhelming Democratic district became even more so over the past two years. It added 15,813 registered Democrats compared to 6,922 more Republicans.

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Seth Grossman and state Sen. Jeff Van Drew.

2nd District | Grossman v. Van Drew

Despite the Democrats' registration edge, retiring Republican Rep. Frank LoBiondo has kept this district in GOP hands for 24 years.

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, a Democrat, is going head-to-head with Republican Seth Grossman. Democrats, who are favored to win the district this fall, widened their advantage by 5,000 voters.

Overall, Democrats added 15,055 registrants and Republicans 10,214 from 2016 to now.

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Rep. Tom MacArthur and Andy Kim

3rd District | MacArthur v. Kim

The unaffiliated voters have held the balance of power in this district where Democrats outnumber Republicans. Both parties added around 9,000 voters (Democrats added 9,058 to Republican's 9,061) in the last two years.

GOP incumbent Rep. Tom MacArthur is fighting off a challenge from Democrat Andy Kim in what the Cook Political Report called a tossup race.

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Rep. Chris Smith

4th District | Smith v. Welle

Rep. Chris Smith is the only GOP lawmaker considered to be safe this fall, and the Republican edge in the district increased over the last two years compared to Democrats.

The GOP added 13,937 registrants compared to Democrat's 10,173.

Josh Welle is challenging the incumbent lawmaker.

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5th District | Gottheimer v. McCann

The Republican edge in this GOP-leaning district shrunk by more than half as 8,000 more Democrats were added to the rolls than Republicans.

Democrats added 14,463 compared to 8,396 for Republicans in the district where incumbent Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat, faces John McCann.

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6th District | Pallone v. Pezzullo

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr.'s heavily Democratic district got even more so.

There are 10,934 new registered Democrats compared to 6,890 more Republicans.

Richard Pezzullo is the Republican nominee.

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Tom Malinowski and Rep. Leonard Lance

7th District | Lance v. Malinowski

Republicans still have a sizable enrollment edge in one of only 23 districts that supported Hillary Clinton but elected a GOP House member. Still, Democratic rolls increased by 18,989 while only 7,871 Republicans were added.

Republican Leonard Lance is facing a challenge from Democrat Tom Malinowski, who outraised him through June 30. The race is a tossup.

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8th District | Sires v. Muniz

Democrat enrollment rose four times greater than Republicans, making Democrat Rep. Albio Sires even more of a sure bet for re-election against Republican John Muniz.

There are 25,205 more registered Democrats compared to only 5,566 registered Republicans from 2016 to now.

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Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr.

9th District | Pascrell v. Fisher

This North Jersey district has become more Democratic over the years.

There are 21,776 additional Democrat registrants and 6,748 more Republicans in the district where Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. is being challenged by Republican Eric Fisher.

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10th District | Payne v. Khan

With 10 times more Democrats than Republicans, it's not surprising that the Democratic increase was six times greater than the Republican.

There were 17,981 additional Democrats compared with only 2,918 more Republicans.

Incumbent Rep. Donald Payne Jr. is up against GOP hopeful Agha Khan.

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Mikie Sherrill and state Assemblyman Jay Webber

11th District | Sherrill v. Webber

Democrat nominee Mikie Sherrill is seeking to win this Republican-leaning district that has been represented by GOP Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen for 24 years, and Democrats registered 17,338 more voters in the last two years compared with 9,614 for Republicans.

Frelinghuysen is retiring. Republican hopeful Jay Webber, a state assemblyman from Morris County, is trying to replace him.

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12th District | Watson Coleman v. Kipnis

The overwhelming Democratic edge got even larger since 2016.

Incumbent Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat, is being challenged by Republican Daryl Kipnis in the district that added 16,706 Democrats over the last two years compared with only 4,728 Republicans.

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READ MORE:

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.